In the Beginning
by Darkhoelme
Summary: Kurt and Rogue are just friends, not to mention pseudosiblings...aren't they? Then what's with all the tension? Prequel to Survival. Rated T mostly for language.
1. Chapter 1

As the title implies, this goes back to the beginning for Kurt and Rogue, when they were 'just friends' and pseudo-siblings. As with Survival, it is written in role-playing format with Quing writing Rogue and taekwondodo writing Kurt. This story also contains a third character, Mariko Yashida (Sunfire), written by the lovely and talented Skids.

**Kurt**

Kurt checked the clock - again - and this time his face split in a grin. Sweet! One-thirty. Plenty of time to con Rogue into watching with him - because she _had _to watch with him - and still have time to snag snacks and get settled in before the movie started at two. He'd already made sure no one would snake the tube by sticking a big old note - featuring a large picture of Herr Professor with a multi-colored mohawk - on the TV, reserving it for the afternoon. He was already having entirely too much fun with the fruits of his and Kaetzchen's efforts this morning.

Of course, he could have just recorded it - or rented it, for that matter - but there was something...special...about it actually being on television. He didn't really know why, but there definitely was. Especially, for some reason, when it involved tormenting Rogue. 

Flipping his stereo off, just a little disappointed that it was in the middle of _Les Boys_, he checked his pockets - yep, still there - and, whistling quietly under his breath, ported off to collect his victim.

bamf

**Rogue**,   
—  
She draped the shirt over the balcony and headed back to her bed. Hopefully, it would dry. And soon. Her clothes had been sitting out there in the sun for awhile, and were still wet. She didn't like walking around in just a tank top, for obvious reasons. Sitting down, she flipped on the radio and contemplated possible ways to kill Bobby. Even though the incident had been much earlier, at breakfast, she hadn't been able to get to a dryer in the laundry room or find the little brat. She'd instead headed back to her room to dry her clothes the old fashioned way. Digging through her dresser, she'd decided that it was probably best if she just stayed in her room for awhile, maybe avoided running into the flamer. So instead of getting fully dressed, she'd pulled on a pair of shorts and a _dry_ tank top.

She closed her eyes and smiled a little bit. As much as she threatened to kill him, she actually liked Bobby. He was funny. Not that she'd admit it to anyone, but she liked most of the mansion's residents. There were, of course, a few exceptions. But she generally didn't even bother talking to them. Oddly, the death threats were in a way how she showed that she actually cared about someone. Because if someone didn't matter, neither would killing them.

Not like she'd ever actually kill someone. She wasn't even close to that level of psycho. Or at least she liked to think that, even if the voices in her head disagreed. She laughed, thinking about that train of thought. She wasn't crazy, even if the voices said so. Right. That was healthy.

Looking over at Kitty's side of the room, she spotted the girl's tickets to the concert. Dazzler, not really her thing. Concerts in general tended to be more trouble than they were worth, she'd learned. She was surprised that she'd been invited along at all after the way that the last concert she'd attended had ended. Property damage wasn't on her to-do list, though. Neither was systematically morphing into everyone she'd ever absorbed. On the other hand, Mystique probably wouldn't be at this one. So the chances of finding out that one of her best friends was in fact her bitch of a mother were probably slim to none. That always made concerts more enjoyable. Even with that, she wasn't really up to heading back out to that kind of an environment again. Performers tended to hate it when they were upstaged by people going crazy.

No, not crazy. Not crazy. _Yes, you are._ Despite her inability to consciously kill another person, if any one of the psyches in her head were tangible, she would not hesitate to kill them. Unfortunately, she tended to take her anger toward the voices out on the people to whom they belonged even though they really had no control over what the voices were saying. But they sort of did, because it was their minds that were coming up with the comments, so there was no way of knowing if they were thinking the same thing and oh, no, she'd gone cross-eyed. Closing her eyes again, she sighed. She needed to stop thinking. It would make things a lot easier.

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
bamf 

Got it in one, there she was! Still whistling under his breath, Kurt grinned cheerily down at Rogue from his perch up near the ceiling above the door...though the tune faltered slightly as he blinked down in surprise. Shorts... Tank top... No tights. No long-sleeved mesh top. Just...shorts...and a tank top.

Weird, how something that probably revealed less than half of her usual wardrobe was so much more...distracting...just by benefit of there being actual, uncovered skin on display. He blinked owlishly down at her for a heartbeat and then remembered abruptly to close his mouth before hopping lightly down to the floor, because he was an Elf on a Mission...and it wasn't to sit on her wall like a gasping fish... 

"Rogue! You won't believe what's on television!" he announced with a fang-baring grin as his tail poked over his shoulder as though it were trying to get in on the conversation. "I've got the flat screen in the rec room reserved, we just need to grab sodas and popcorn and we have a whole afternoon of Rhett and Scarlett to look forward to!"

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
She was just about to verbally attack the people in her head that were being inappropriate or just plain annoying, when a familiar sound jarred her out of her little inner battle. Cracking one eye, she looked up to see Kurt staring at her from above the door. Really staring. In a most disturbing way. "Can I help you?"

He composed himself then hopped to the floor, bouncing toward her. She opened her other eye and got herself ready to roll off the other side of the bed if he somehow missed the memo that smashing up against her while she was in any state of undress was a bad idea. **"Rogue!** **You won't believe what's on television!"** If it was something retarded like Crocodile Dundee, she was going to slap him. Hard. **"I've got the flat screen in the rec room reserved, we just need to grab sodas and popcorn and we have a whole afternoon of Rhett and Scarlett to look forward to!"**

She groaned as she swung her legs over the bed and ran her hand through her hair. Time for the obligatory complaints about his exploiting her accent. "Kurt? Do I make you watch 'Das Boot?'" She frowned, trying to think of another, better excuse. "You know how much Vivien Leigh's eyebrow bothers me." No, that was probably not good either. Sighing, she stood up and walked over to her dresser. As much as she complained and argued, she actually enjoyed watching movies with Kurt. As long as he didn't ask her to quote Scarlett just so that he could giggle and clap, it would be fun. Who was she kidding? It'd be fun then, too.

Pulling a pair of pants and a long-sleeved shirt out, she instructed Kurt, "Turn around." She would have asked him to leave, if she gave a damn. As it was, she quickly undressed and pulled on the new clothes without bothering to check if he followed her simple instruction. If he wanted to be a pervert, that was his business. Grabbing a pair of gloves, she gestured toward the door. "As God is my witness, I'll never go... oh, fuck it. To the kitchen."

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**She** **groaned as she swung her legs over the bed and ran her hand through her hair** and he shook his head teasingly at her.

"Tsk, lying around in bed in the middle of the afternoon," ...pretty much like he'd been doing until just a few minutes ago, of course, but that didn't mean he couldn't tease _her _about it.

**"Kurt? Do I make you watch 'Das Boot?'" She frowned** and he raised his eyebrows expectantly, bouncing slightly in place on his long toes and a slight, attentive smile on his face as he waited for her next attempt at an excuse. Mentally taking odds on which of her 'standards' it'd be. He'd obviously won already, of course, because there was no way she could possibly resist the allure of watching Gone With the Wind and snarking at the Southern Belles and...

**"You know how much Vivien Leigh's eyebrow bothers me."** Yep, there it was, Vivien Leigh's eyebrow! Right up there with the accents. 

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," he informed her with a cheeky wink, and in a not _too _unfortunate imitation of Clark Gable as she stood and headed for her dresser. "Besides," he added, "that's half the fun, isn't it?" 

And, okay, it was just wrong, so very very _wrong_, that she looked more clothed in a leather miniskirt and a bra with a transparent overshirt and stockings than she did in a pair of shorts and a tank top... Flopping on the edge of her bed, he grabbed the first plushy that came to hand and found himself holding Pepe le Pew, of all things.

**"Turn around,"** Rogue instructed, and he compromised by focusing on the toy, parading it across the foot of the bed with sotto voce quotes from the cartoon in an almost pitch perfect imitation of the Cajun's swamp-water French accent.

**"As God is my witness, I'll never go... oh, fuck it. To the kitchen."**

Snickering, he tossed the hapless plushy back onto the bed, where an unfortunate bounce carried the little skunk to the floor as he hopped up, grinning in anticipation. Oh yeah, this was gonna be great, she was gonna be quoting along with Scarlett in no time flat.

"The kitchen it is, Stinktier," he agreed, wrapping his tail around lightly around her waist a heartbeat before the pair of them disappeared in a burst of sulfurous smoke.

bamf


	2. Chapter 2

**Rogue**

After a brief stop in the kitchen for the necessary supplies, they were in the rec. room. She sat the sodas down on the table, making her way to the television where she spotted Kurt's little way of reserving the TV. Pulling the piece of paper from its taped position on the top of the screen, she raised an eyebrow at Kurt. "What _exactly_ are you smoking, and where can I get some?"

Because, really. Anything that brought about the idea to do something like that had to be good. Setting the picture down on the table, she took a seat on the couch and cracked open one of the sodas, tossing the remote control to Kurt. "Let's watch the South get their asses handed to them, in Technicolor. You know what channel it's on, right?" 

* * *

**Kurt**

Kurt deposited the bowl of still piping hot popcorn and the box of HoHos on the table and then, tail twitching in anticipation, watched as Rogue headed to the TV and pulled his note off the screen. Gott, he couldn't wait until everyone - well, maybe not Logan - saw those. Kitty had totally lived up to her reputation as a computer goddess making the verdammt things.

**"What exactly are you smoking, and where can I get some?" **she asked, one eyebrow twitching up as she turned to look at him and he flopped back on the couch, snickering yet again at the beauty that was Herr Professor photomanipped into a technicolor mohawk.

"Ha! It's just my natural creativity," he answered between fits of giggles as he leaned forward to extract the small brush from his pocket and toss it on the table next to the soda. For one thing it was uncomfortable to sit on and for another she should know she wasn't going to get off the hook this time. "Well, and Kaetzchen's computer genius," he added, his tail snaking out to snag a soda as she came over to join him on the couch.

"It's phantastich, isn't it? You should see the one with dreadlocks." Grinning, he passed the soda to his hands and popped the lid to take a long drink - Gott, the beauty that was liquefied sugar and caffeine - while his tail accepted the proffered remote.  
**  
"Let's watch the South get their asses handed to them, in technicolor. You know what channel it's on, right?" **

"Mmm, ass-handing is always better in technicolor - unless it involves Errol Flynn, of course," he qualified quickly. "His ass-handing skills are unbeaten even in black and white," he added as he flipped through the channels in search of the right one. "And pfft! Of course I know," he assured her, flipping quickly back in case he'd missed the channel...and then forward again because apparently he hadn't. But it was just a minor technicality because he knew the _channel_, he just wasn't exactly sure where to find it amidst the several _hundred _on this verdammt cable service.

Twenty channels down the line, though, he finally lucked out. "See, told you!" He leaned over to bump her companionably with his shoulder as his tail pulled the popcorn into his lap and the opening credits began to roll. "Got it totally under control," he informed her through a mouthful of popcorn as he offered it to her.

"Too bad we can't get away with drinking in here," he added thoughtfully. "There's gotta be a good drinking game in this movie..."

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Mmm, ass-handing is always better in technicolor - unless it involves Errol Flynn, of course. His ass-handing skills are unbeaten even in black and white."** She rolled her eyes. It might be a bad idea to point out that Errol Flynn's movies were all scripted. He himself did none of the actual ass kicking. That might shatter Kurt's hopes and dreams, though, so she decided not to. **"And pfft! Of course I know,"**

She simply sat back and smirked as he flipped through channel after channel, doubling back at one point. Right. He knew where it was. Finally, he found it. She was positive that it was an accident, though. **"See, told you!"**

She made a face as he bumped into her, but kept her mouth closed. **"Got it totally under control."** She tried to avert her eyes from the partially chewed food in his mouth. She failed. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk with your mouth full?" Reaching over, she grabbed a handful of popcorn and frowned. "Forget I brought that up."

**"Too bad we can't get away with drinking in here. There's gotta be a good drinking game in this movie..."** She took a swig of her soda and nodded. "There is one. It's called drink until they actually sound Southern. It's a tough game."

She leaned back a bit as the movie started, readying herself for the boredom that was about to ensue. She couldn't remember ever finishing the whole movie. She'd fast-forwarded through a lot of it. Most of the story, she knew. _"Yay, a war! We're going to win!" "Oh, crap we're losing. Don't tell anyone." " Ouch... you seen my leg?"_ She'd learned all about it when she was younger. A slightly more factual version of events than the kids who lived near her got, since she didn't go to school. Irene was pretty honest about it. Of course, her honesty came with the disclaimer that if Rogue ever pointed out the truth of it to the locals, she'd likely have a mob after her. Even though the war had been over a hundred years ago, people were still bitter.

But she wasn't going to think about Irene. Or Mississippi. Or any of that. Focusing on the screen, she zeroed in on her first nitpick. "For twins, those two don't look anything alike."

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk with your mouth full?"** He just raised an eyebrow and gave her a sardonic look as she reached over, grabbed a handful of popcorn and frowned. **"Forget I brought that up,"** she amended quickly and he smiled slightly before continuing.

"Too bad we can't get away with drinking in here. There's gotta be a good drinking game in this movie..." **She took a swig of her soda and nodded. "There is one. It's called drink until they actually sound Southern. It's a tough game."**

"Mmmm, I think I like that one," he agreed, resting the popcorn bowl in his lap and settling his soda on the table with the help of his tail. "Because it'd take a whooole lot of beer to get there. Probably almost as much," he added, "as it would take if you drank until Rhett's hair looks clean. I'm starting to think this movie might be better drunk." 

She leaned back a bit as the movie started and he settled back next to her, pulling his knees up comfortably.

**"For twins, those two don't look anything alike."**

"Point," he agreed, giving the men in question a critical once-over, "but they do get closer to a real Southern accent than most of the rest of the cast," he added in their defense. "Which admittedly isn't saying much," he conceded with a grin, peering at her from the corner of his eyes as he waited for the obligatory lecture.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Mmmm, I think I like that one. Because it'd take a whooole lot of beer to get there. Probably almost as much as it would take if you drank until Rhett's hair looks clean."** She snorted. There probably wasn't enough beer in the world for that one. **"I'm starting to think this movie might be better drunk."** She nodded in agreement. "It probably would. They get to drink a lot, why shouldn't we?"

She had a sudden recollection of shouting the line, _"I'm very drunk and I intend on getting still drunker before this evening's over."_ to someone. Frowning, she tried to remember when and who and where and why. She kept coming up with a boat. She'd never been drunk on a boat that she could remember, though. So that couldn't be right. Unless it was the boathouse. She'd been drunk there a few times... was she quoting old movies at the party they'd had last month? Thank God most of that was a blur.

The movie started, drawing her attention. "For twins, those two don't look anything alike." Score one for the Rogue.

**"Point, but they do get closer to a real Southern accent than most of the rest of the cast."** She glanced over at him, ready to inform him that _he_ was closer to having a real Southern accent than most of the rest of the cast. He seemed to realize the same and amended his statement, **"Which admittedly isn't saying much."**

She nodded, eyes focused on the movie. For a few moments, at least. She had something to say, and she was going to say it even if she tried not to. "How hard do you think it would have been for them to find someone _not British sounding_ for the lead role? I mean, there has to be at least one actress somewhere that could pull off a halfway decent accent. She doesn't have to be Southern. She could be Canadian for all I care. It's just odd seeing the Brits fighting so that..." She trailed off as one of the Tarleton twins informed Scarlett that Ashley was marrying his cousin, Melanie. "And why the inbreeding?! Good God, the inbreeding! I don't care if it's factually correct. I _know_ that people do that. I know that people _did_ that. But really, as if there ain't enough negative stereotypes in the movie already, they gotta throw in the cousin thing, too!" 

She closed her mouth, realizing that she'd been close to shouting. Turning to Kurt, she frowned. "Sorry. I'm done now."

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
Apparently he'd scored at least some points with that statement, because she didn't protest and went back to watching the movie, so he grabbed another handful of popcorn and tried to get into appreciating the supposed 'glory days' of the Old South. The peace didn't last long, though, which was well over half the fun of watching this movie with her. He didn't think they'd ever gotten more than halfway through before she'd given up in disgust, but it was well worth the entertainment value while it lasted...not that much of the entertainment came from the screen.

**"How hard do you think it would have been for them to find someone not British sounding for the lead role? I mean, there has to be at least one actress somewhere that could pull off a halfway decent accent. She doesn't have to be Southern. She could be Canadian for all I care. It's just odd seeing the Brits fighting so that..." **She trailed off for a moment and he shook slightly, trying not to laugh out loud at her tirade - only because spraying popcorn would be rude, of course, not because she'd kick his ass...or try to.

"Well, they didn't want them to sound ignorant, did they? Go for that classy British accent to raise the cultural bar on the Old South..." he suggested, prodding her lightly in the midriff with his tail as he winked teasingly at her. Yup, he just kept confirming that he had an abysmally low instinct for self-preservation. He and Bobby should probably form some kind of support group or something. Maybe a twelve step program.

**"And why the inbreeding?! Good God, the inbreeding!** Oh, this was a good one, much better than Scarlett's improbable eyebrow of doom, and he shifted his attention entirely away from the TV screen to appreciate it. Couldn't get the full effect without watching her start to turn red in the face, after all. **I don't care if it's factually correct. I know that people do that. I know that people did that. But really, as if there ain't enough negative stereotypes in the movie already, they gotta throw in the cousin thing, too!"**

**"Sorry. I'm done now."**

"Well, y'know," he offered consideringly, eyes turned back to the TV now. "Without accents they probably figured they needed to throw in _something _so we wouldn't forget it was the South...well, besides the slaves and the plantations and stuff."

"Oh, and no worries, Schatz," he assured her with a cheery grin. "We'll just tuck that soapbox away for the next time they offend your Southern sensibilities. Though you know," his tail snaked out to lift the small, wooden handled brush from the table and wave it in front of her, "a good brushing can be very relaxing..."

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Well, they didn't want them to sound ignorant, did they? Go for that classy British accent to raise the cultural bar on the Old South..."** She rolled her eyes, deciding that it might be a bad idea to go off on him when they were having such a lovely time. Instead, she continued on with her ranting until she felt she'd yelled enough. 

**"Well, y'know, without accents they probably figured they needed to throw in something so we wouldn't forget it was the South...well, besides the slaves and the plantations and stuff."** She took another sip of her drink and looked at him. That was an interesting point. Not that she really cared. It could have been the most interesting point in the world, but if it didn't help her argument, she just plain wouldn't listen to it. "As if the Confederate flags everywhere weren't a clue. They should have just done it the easy way, thrown in a trailer or two. Because that's all there is in the South. Trailers. It's one giant, shiny trailer park. The rich folk have double wides. Just ask Sam. He... well, no. Sam actually is a hick. Never mind. Ask someone else. Besides, he's from Kentucky. That state couldn't even make up its damn mind about what side it was on."

**"Oh, and no worries, Schatz. We'll just tuck that soapbox away for the next time they offend your Southern sensibilities. Though you know, a good brushing can be very relaxing..."** Why hadn't she seen that coming? Taking the brush from him, she looked at it and frowned. That was probably the real reason he'd asked her to watch the movie. All a big ploy to get brushed. It had been a mistake, buying him that cat brush. A big mistake. "I don't know nothin' 'bout brushin' no... fine."

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"As if the Confederate flags everywhere weren't a clue. They should have just done it the easy way, thrown in a trailer or two. Because that's all there is in the South. Trailers. It's one giant, shiny trailer park. The rich folk have double wides. Just ask Sam. He... well, no. Sam actually is a hick. Never mind. Ask someone else. Besides, he's from Kentucky. That state couldn't even make up its damn mind about what side it was on."**

"Shame they were filming before the days of trailer parks," he agreed mock-mournfully. "That would have totally set the scene. After all, just imagine the icon of Gone with the Wind being a high end double wide instead of Tara. And Sam's a very nice hick," he added in the other boy's defense, poking her again with his tail. He didn't bother, of course, to point out that in Germany the Bavarians had kind of the same reputation as Southerners did in the US. Besides, it was time to move on to more important things...and the second of his ulterior motives.

"Oh, and no worries, Schatz. We'll just tuck that soapbox away for the next time they offend your Southern sensibilities. Though you know, a good brushing can be very relaxing..." And, really, it was just as relaxing for the brusher as the brushee...almost...  
**  
Taking the brush from him, she looked at it and frowned** and he plastered on his best angelic look as he wrapped his tail neatly around his hocks and waited, the beginnings of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

**"I don't know nothin' 'bout brushin' no... fine."**

Ha, victory! "That'll teach you to buy people gag gifts," he admonished her cheerfully as he skinned his shirt off, dropped it on the couch next to him and flopped belly-down across her lap without waiting for an invitation. "Besides, you know you love it," he added as he folded his arms and rested his cheek on them so he could still see the television. "Who can resist a giant lapcat while watching television, hm?"

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
She simply bowed her head. As far as hicks came, Sam was indeed a very nice hick. As Kurt stripped off his shirt and threw himself onto her lap, she grunted. "You're such a fatass."

**"That'll teach you to buy people gag gifts."** Funny, because he was getting a flea collar for his next birthday. **"Besides, you know you love it."** He was getting himself situated and she was trying her best not to just pin him down so he'd hold still. And yeah... if she thought about it, she did enjoy it. In a weird, brushing-my-brother kind of way. **"Who can resist a giant lapcat while watching television, hm?"**

She started to brush his back, glancing back at the television. "Bigass lapcat." Not that she liked to think of Kurt as a pet, but he was probably about the closest she'd ever have to one. Except, of course, the plushies. But Kurt's fur was thick enough that she could actually touch it lightly. And that was something. Pausing to pull the dead hair out of the brush, she frowned at the television again. "Can we watch something else? Anything else?"

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"You're such a fatass,"** she informed him as he flopped on her, but he ignored the comment for the moment in favor of making himself comfortable...which was a bit of a challenge when he was sprawled partially across her knees. A bit of squirming took care of it, though, and he settled in contentedly as he admonished her about the advisability of giving gag gifts.

As she started to work the brush across his back his eyes slipped half shut and he signed in contentment. **"Bigass lapcat," **she muttered and he flicked his tail up to smack her lightly upside the head - careful to stay away from bare skin, as the spade of his tail was one of the few places where the fur was thin enough that accidental contact posed a real threat.

"Leave my ass out of this," he grumbled good-naturedly. "I spend years eating everything in sight trying to put on a few pounds and when I finally manage what do I get? Now I'm fat. It's crushing my poor, fragile self-esteem you know!" It probably would have sounded more accusatory if he hadn't started to purr right about then. A low, mostly inaudible rumble deep in his chest that made his words vibrate slightly.

"And besides, you have bony knees, y'know," he added, squirming slightly by way of illustration as she paused, probably to clean out the brush.

**"Can we watch something else? Anything else?" **she asked, almost plaintively..

"You know, if we change the channel now that might be a new record for bailing on poor Scarlett," he countered, doing a pretty sorry job of sounding mournful through the warm rumble of the purr he couldn't really be bothered trying to stifle. "But I suppose, all things considered," he shifted to look up at her through his bangs as his tail prodded her hand in encouragement to get back to work, "that we can find something else..._if _you'll do Scarlett's 'As God is my witness' schtick," he finished, his tail reaching to snag the remote from where he'd left it on the table and pass it up to his hand.

"It'd be much more moving with a Southern accent, after all," he pointed out with a grin before dropping his head back down on his crossed forearms. Besides which, a viewing of Gone with the Wind, however abbreviated, couldn't be considered complete until she'd been harassed into quoting at least one good-sized chunk of dialogue in a proper Southern drawl.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Leave my ass out of this. I spend years eating everything in sight trying to put on a few pounds and when I finally manage what do I get? Now I'm fat. It's crushing my poor, fragile self-esteem you know!"** Yeah, his poor, fragile self-esteem sure did seem crushed. Because when normal people were offended, they purred. **"And besides, you have bony knees, y'know."** She rolled her eyes, still brushing him.

"Yeah. Knees will do that, on account of there being those _bones_ right there." She was really fed up with the movie. And the brush was getting all gunked up. "Can we watch something else? Anything else?"

**"You know, if we change the channel now that might be a new record for bailing on poor Scarlett."** She shrugged.

"Scarlett doesn't care. She's still got Tara."

**"But I suppose, all things considered, that we can find something else..._if_ you'll do Scarlett's 'As God is my witness' schtick."** She conked him on the back of the head lightly with the brush. Did he think she was some kind of trained monkey?

"No. I won't."

**"It'd be much more moving with a Southern accent, after all."** She looked up at the screen again, frowning as Scarlett made a fool of herself hitting on Ashley. Craning her neck to make sure that there wasn't anyone else nearby, she cleared her throat.

"As God is my witness... You're serious, aren't you? You're going to make me do the whole damn thing." 

Hitting him with the brush again, she continued, "As God is my witness, they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat, or kill... As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again. Unless Kurt eats everything in the house, in which case I'm screwed. Now change the channel."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
Now she had a room that didn't smell dubious and where she didn't suspect that her clothes would be just as safe in the dresser as on the floor, it was tempting just to get some sleep. The bed had seemed relatively comfortable as well, but somehow, she didn't want her first introduction to her roommate to be the other girl stumbling in on her while she was asleep. The chance of her having a conversation without waking up at all was far too high as well.

All in all, it had seemed like a much better option to at least try to be sociable. Apparently, the rec room was pretty much the place to hang out and so she headed that way, not taking too long to find her way around the school.

What she found as she entered the rec room was far from what she'd imagined though. The couch, TV and all that were fine, just like she remembered them. On the other hand, seeing the blue thing- or was that person in someone's lap, however, that was a little unexpected. She was likely intruding and possibly should have left, but the chairs were so inviting and her room so far. "Hi," she said with a tiny wave and an uncharacteristic meekness. Of course, now attention was inbound, going and hiding in her room didn't sound quite so bad. As a thought occurred to her, she raised a hand almost as though she were asking a question at school. After a moment, one finger fell forward to point at the pair. "Were you grooming?" It was only a short question, but somehow, the pace of her speech had markedly dropped by the end of it. It just seemed so unlikely.


	3. Chapter 3

**Kurt**  
—  
**She** **conked him on the back of the head lightly with the brush... "No. I won't."**

"It'd be much more moving with a Southern accent, after all," he countered, ignoring the abuse for the moment in favor of pressing his point and he barely suppressed a snicker as she peered around, obviously checking to make sure there weren't any witnesses...hopefully to her embarrassment as she did the Southern belle routine, not to his imminent murder and the stashing of his remains.  
**  
"As God is my witness...**" she finally began, and he rolled slightly to look up at her with a broad grin. **"You're serious, aren't you? You're going to make me do the whole damn thing."**

"Yup!" he answered cheerfully, and let one hand drop to pat consolingly at her calf as he continued to smile up at her. "Like you ever had any doubts?"

He winced melodramatically when she hit him with the brush this time, and rubbed at the spot with the spade of his tail, but his smile never died as she started again, reciting word-perfect from memory.

**"As God is my witness, they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat, or kill... As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again. Unless Kurt eats everything in the house, in which case I'm screwed. Now change the channel."**

He wasn't _quite_ giggling by the time she was done, but he was pretty verdammt close as he applauded her performance enthusiastically. "A truly moving performance, I give it two thumbs up! Oh, and for someone who can't stand this movie you sure do have huge chunks of it memorized," he commented as he dropped his head back onto his arms and flipped through the channels in search of something that might be more to her liking. "Is it genetic or do they teach it in school down South?" he asked as he continued to flip..._M.A.S.H_..._M.A.S.H_..._Star Trek_..._Twilight Zone_..._Fresh Prince of_...eh, who cared..._The Four Feathers_ - he flipped past that with a mournful sigh...Oooooh, perfect.

"There we go," he announced triumphantly, dropping the remote on the table just as one of the Rodents of Unusual Size appeared out of the shadows of the fireswamp and Wes - that is, the Dread Pirate Roberts - took care of it. They hadn't even missed _that_ much of it yet. "That a bit better? We didn't even miss all of the ROUSs," he added as his tail poked her hand encouragingly towards an itch just beneath his right shoulder blade.

He was just reaching for more popcorn and getting contentedly into the movie - and the continued brushing - when an unfamiliar voice broke in and his head snapped around so he could see the door, and the very small, kind of confused looking, and really cute Asian girl standing there staring at them in surprise.

**"Hi." She raised a hand almost as though she were asking a question at school. After a moment, one finger fell forward to point at the pair. "Were you grooming?"** Golden eyes unblinking and tail coiled into a fuzzy blue question mark in the air over his back...which Rogue was still rhythmically brushing...he just stared at the girl for a heartbeat as his never quite audible purr stuttered to a stop. New girl...heavy accent...Marko something? Herr Professor had mentioned her after training this morning...

He had a very brief, somewhat manic impulse to see if he could actually get away with passing himself off as some kind of giant, mutated housecat. Instead he found himself smiling broadly, though in a way that kept his fangs neatly hidden away behind his lips.

"Family that grooms together stays together, ja?" he answered, cocking his head slightly and winking teasingly at her. "You must be the new girl Herr Professor said would be showing up today. Welcome to Mutant Manor," he added as his tail reached for the bowl of popcorn, refusing to let himself care whether she was going to accept and join them or make her escape from The Weird as quickly as possible as he held it out in offer. "Popcorn? The Princess Bride isn't too far along..."

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"A truly moving performance, I give it two thumbs up! Oh, and for someone who can't stand this movie you sure do have huge chunks of it memorized. Is it genetic or do they teach it in school down South?"** She rolled her eyes as she continued brushing him. Really, he didn't need to know that she'd spent time in front of a mirror trying to get her eyebrow to do that thing that Vivien Leigh's does. Not like there was much else to do in Caldecott. "Shut up."

No better comeback than a well-placed shut up. Kurt flipped through the channels, and she readied the brush to hit him if he stopped on something equally retarded like Steel Magnolias. Finally, though, he stopped on The Princess Bride. That, she could handle. **"There we go. That a bit better? We didn't even miss all of the ROUSs."**

She nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "Yeah, much better. And it's hard to miss them when you got one on your lap." Squirrels were rodents. Right? She was about to double check that little factoid with Kurt when a voice behind her made her turn. **"Hi." She raised a hand almost as though she were asking a question at school. After a moment, one finger fell forward to point at the pair. "Were you grooming?"**

She didn't stop brushing him, just stared at the new girl. She didn't know her, and judging by her accent, she wasn't a Bayville native either. She vaguely remembered the Professor saying something about a new girl after training, but she'd been too busy thinking of creative ways to kill Scott and Jean to really pay attention.

**"Family that grooms together stays together, ja?"** She had the sudden urge to hit him with the brush again. Instead, she cracked a smile. **"You must be the new girl Herr Professor said would be showing up today. Welcome to Mutant Manor." Okay, so she _was_ the new girl, then. At least she'd made an appointment, unlike certain pyromaniacs who decided to pop in during breakfast. b"Popcorn? The Princess Bride isn't too far along..."**

Figuring that better introductions were in order (which may very well have just been a little bit of absorbed Jean poking through), she added to Kurt's welcome speech, "This is Kurt, by the way. He's probably the kid that was described as blue and fuzzy, if you hadn't guessed from the blue fuzziness. I'm Rogue. I'm the bitch. Nice to meet you..."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
It was a weird thing to be confronted by Kurt. Or it felt weird to Mariko and she couldn't help but wonder if everyone else here was just fine with it, or if there was someone even weirder around the institute. She supposed she should have been more accepting. She was hardly the poster child for normal herself, unless everyone could go all flamey these days.

It seemed unlikely.

Seeing Kurt smile, Mariko ventured a smile back and decided to wave. It seemed better than pointing, but possibly made her look like an idiot, so she let her hand fall to her side.

**"Family that grooms together stays together, ja?"** At least he seemed okay. Quirky, maybe even weird, but mostly okay. Mariko didn't quite know what to say, so she said nothing, but simply nodded.

**"You must be the new girl Herr Professor said would be showing up today. Welcome to Mutant Manor."**

Again, she simply replied with a nod. As an afterthought, she added, "Mariko." She held out her hand to shake, but was somewhat surprisingly met with popcorn.

**"Popcorn?** **The Princess Bride isn't too far along..."**

"The what isn't what?" A moment's reflection told her that that probably wasn't the smartest thing she could have asked. They were almost certainly talking about a movie, the movie on TV, no less. "Haven't seen it," she said simply, before taking a handful of popcorn, briefly inspecting it for hair before popping some into her mouth.

**"This is Kurt, by the way. He's probably the kid that was described as blue and fuzzy, if you hadn't guessed from the blue fuzziness. I'm Rogue. I'm the bitch. Nice to meet you..."**

"Nice meet you, too. Hippo parents?" Mariko asked uncertainly as she dropped onto the couch beside Rogue. That was always the excuse people gave for weird names in American movies. At least she thought that was right. "Mariko," she added, not realizing it was the second time she'd said it.

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"Yeah, much better.** **And it's hard to miss them when you got one on your lap." **Rogue responded to his comment about the ROUSs. 

He was denied the opportunity to retaliate for that little dig, other than another slap upside the head with the spade of his tail, by the new kid's arrival. The cute new kid...

Amazingly enough, not only did she not run screaming from the room (and he really wouldn't have blamed her if she had, in all honesty), she actually smiled back and even waved sort of hesitantly. Not much of a talker apparently...though that could just be because all that really wanted to come out was incoherent babbling, under the circumstances. She might talk a mile a minute with 'normal' people, for all he knew. 

He forged ahead none the less, filling the silence with his own babble as she stood there and Rogue - Gott love her - just continued stroking the brush down his back. Mutti would kill him for just lying there instead of standing up to greet someone new, but Mutti wasn't here and the steady movement of the brush was a welcome distraction.

**"Mariko."** she introduced herself, partway through, reconfirming his opinion that talking wasn't her strong suit...here and now, anyway. Though when she held her hand out to shake he felt a bit bad for the pre-emptive offer of popcorn. Still, it was generally easiest not to spring all the weirdness on a newbie at once. He'd discovered that the hard way years ago. Someone who seemed to be handling it all pretty well could just be in shock until one thing too many pushed them over the edge, and he didn't really feel like dealing with her jumping and screaming at the feel of three thick, fuzzy fingers. Not like it would irreparably shatter his self-esteem or anything at this point, but it had gotten old years ago.

**"The what isn't what?"** Okay, maybe not so much quiet or put off as having trouble with the language he decided a bit guiltily. And she did accept the popcorn - even if she did check it out a bit suspiciously first, and join them. So yay for the no making a hasty retreat. Ten points for the new kid. 

"Ach, you haven't seen The Princess Bride?" he asked, shaking his head sadly as he pushed up on his elbows so he could actually look at her while talking. Not forcing the eye contact, though, in case that freaked her out. "You'll love it, it's a classic!"

**"This is Kurt, by the way**," Rogue broke in, and he waved his tail jauntily with a somewhat chagrined smile. Heh, introductions. Who'd've thought Rogue'd beat him hands down in the hospitality department...though she was really just a big, squishy Southern Belle at heart, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. b"He's probably the kid that was described as blue and fuzzy, if you hadn't guessed from the blue fuzziness. I'm Rogue. I'm the bitch. Nice to meet you..."/b

**"Nice meet you, too. Hippo parents?" Mariko asked uncertainly as she dropped onto the couch beside Rogue** and Kurt snorted in laughter, not able to keep it back despite knowing just how frustrating it was being the ESL kid who didn't know all the right words and expressions...just witness a lot of the outdated slang he'd picked up from watching American TV and movies from the 70s that he was still trying to break himself of.

"Y'know," he answered, shooting a conspiratorial glance back at Rogue, "it's entirely possible she actually has been at some point in time." Bats, birds, why not a hippo if it had suited her purposes?

"And I'm sorry for laughing," he added, turning back to Mariko with a sheepish smile. "Not like I haven't managed to mangle the language in some pretty interesting ways, after all. But it's 'hippy'. Hippos are those fat, grey things in tutus from Disney's Fantasia," he offered helpfully. Because, yeah, laughing at the new foreign kid...kinda tacky.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
Mariko sat down right next to her and she flinched almost instinctively. It was okay. She was wearing sleeves. She reached over Kurt to pick up the glove that she'd taken off before, chuckling at the question about her parents being hippos.

**Y'know, it's entirely possible she actually has been at some point in time."** Rogue nodded.

The woman had been just about everything else on the planet. Plus, "She's already a cow."

**"And I'm sorry for laughing. Not like I haven't managed to mangle the language in some pretty interesting ways, after all. But it's 'hippy'. Hippos are those fat, grey things in tutus from Disney's Fantasia."**

She nodded, agreeing. Hippo fit Raven, though. Irene, too. Fatass cows, the both of them. "It's not my real name. I think."

She looked back at Mariko, noticing again just how close the other girl had sat, and not really wanting to explain why sitting down right next to her was a bad idea. Normally, she wouldn't have really cared about it, but the girl had just slipped up the language and had the two of them laugh at her. Besides, brushing always put her in a good mood. Not that she'd admit it. Because really. Taking a cat brush to your "brother" was not a normal thing.

She tried to inch away from Mariko, but failed. Kurt really needed to lose weight. "Kurt, get up for a second. I'm moving over." She glanced back over at Mariko. "Nothing personal. Just don't feel like killing anyone today." Except Bobby. And Pyro. Jean and Scott, too. Okay, she had a list. But she didn't feel like killing someone without good reason.

Once she was settled into her new spot, she continued brushing Kurt and looked back at Mariko. _Say something friendly. Ask her where she's from, or what her powers are._ Yeah. Jean was going to get it. Bitch needed to learn to keep her fucking mouth closed. "So, uh... What are your magical wonderful splendid gifts?"

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Ach, you haven't seen The Princess Bride?"**

Mariko shook her head. It probably shouldn't have been too hard for Kurt to believe. At least, logically speaking. She'd grown up in a different country. No doubt there were plenty of things each had seen that the other hadn't. She said nothing though; it sounded crabby in her head and would probably sound worse out loud. Besides, with the whole grooming spectacle, logic seemed to have left town a long time ago. Perhaps she'd even left it back in Tokyo.

**"You'll love it, it's a classic!"**

"Okay!" Mariko said about as brightly as she could, trying to get enthused about a film she knew nothing about.

**"Y'know, it's entirely possible she actually has been at some point in time."**

"She's already a cow."

Despite all the layers of attitude she'd been hiding behind since she left home, Mariko recoiled a little as the pair laughed. At Kurt's comment, she was just about ready to leave. Laughing she could endure if she'd said something stupid. Actual teasing, deliberate mockery, that was something else. 

**"And I'm sorry for laughing. Not like I haven't managed to mangle the language in some pretty interesting ways, after all. But it's 'hippy'. Hippos are those fat, grey things in tutus from Disney's Fantasia."**

Mariko nodded, appeased by the apology, before rubbing a hand over her face. "Sorry, my English is usually better."

**"Kurt, get up for a second. I'm moving over. Nothing personal. Just don't feel like killing anyone today."**

Mariko's eyes widened. Nothing personal, I just don't want to sit near you. Whatever that meant. Nothing personal but I'd rather kill you than be near you no less. It really wasn't the first time she'd had a girl that opposed to being physically near her. Just the first time it had happened with so little reason. It was funny, but she'd assumed that Rogue was joking when she said she was the bitch.

She wanted to speak up, to give Rogue a piece of her mind, but she thought better of it. Kurt was trying to be nice, so she didn't want to go off on her friends. Besides, if she got kicked out of Xavier's, she didn't really have anywhere else to go. Propping her chin on her hand, Mariko stared at the wall.

**"So, uh... What are your magical wonderful splendid gifts?"**

"Huh?" Mariko asked, turning to face Rogue with a glower. "I can tolerate being near strangers, not just people I know without threatening to kill them, which is apparently kind of unusual. Oh, not to mention not making weird jokes to make fun of the new kid. Don't worry; I'll be nowhere near you." Climbing to her feet, she spared Kurt an apologetic glance, "I didn't mean to spoil your movie," she said, a little plaintively, "I just can't handle this right now." With a shake of her head, she turned to leave the room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Kurt**  
—  
Kurt dropped his hand to pat Rogue's calf in absent-minded reassurance when Mariko sat a bit too close and she flinched away. There really wasn't any chance that she'd hurt Mariko, but there was absolutely no convincing her of that. Gott knew he'd spent enough time in the last year and a half trying.

Kurt felt pretty bad about their response to Mariko's hippo statement when he saw the new girl's reaction. Verfluckt, talk about sticking your foot in your mouth, but at least his apology seemed to mostly smooth things over. He was almost tempted to explain about Mystique, just so she'd understand they hadn't been teasing her but...he really didn't want to go there. Explaining to someone that your mother was a psychotic international terrorist with megalomania issues wasn't really a great intro in his book...or something he really liked to think about if he could avoid it.

**"It's not my real name. I think."** and Kurt patted Rogue again at that little admission. The reminder that she couldn't remember her real name or parents and that Rogue was all they'd ever seen fit to call her wasn't really a pleasant one and he simply nodded his understanding at Mariko's explanation that her English was usually better as he felt Rogue fidget slightly. Obviously trying to inch away from the other girl.

**"Kurt, get up for a second. I'm moving over."** she commanded just as he started to shift his weight to accommodate her. **"Nothing personal.** **Just don't feel like killing anyone today."** she added by way of explanation as he sighed in resignation and climbed to his feet so she could shift. Uncomfortable hanging out in front of the new girl half dressed? Naaah, not at all...and if he happened to stand up a bit straighter than usual to avoid the obvious comparison to the housecat he was currently impersonating, well... 

Of course, the second Rogue sat down again he flopped back across her lap...and realized as he did so that that was possibly more off-putting than the semi-nudity thing. Oh well, if it bugged her then that was life...

**"So, uh... What are your magical wonderful splendid gifts?"** Rogue asked as she started to work on his back again. Gott, there was probably something wrong with the fact that he enjoyed this so much, really, but he could live with that. His thoughts were cut off abruptly when Mariko answered, her voice tight with anger. Uh-oh, who'd said what how? He looked up at her in confusion, trying to figure out exactly how things had just gone so drastically pear-shaped.

**"I can tolerate being near strangers, not just people I know without threatening to kill them, which is apparently kind of unusual. Oh, not to mention not making weird jokes to make fun of the new kid. Don't worry; I'll be nowhere near you."** Oh scheisse, her voice had been climbing all through that little - not entirely unjustified from her limited perspective - tirade and now she was climbing to her feet.

**"I just can't handle this right now." With a shake of her head, she turned to leave the room.**

"Wait, don't go, bitte!" he scrambled to his feet, tail lashing anxiously. "We didn't mean it that way," he added apologetically. "Really. We're just used to everyone knowing about the weirdness factor around here is all. It _really_ had nothing to do with you. Right, Schatze?" and he looked to Rogue for support, hoping today was going to be a supportive kind of day, rather than a let the new kid storm out with a chip on her shoulder kind of day. Gott, sometimes he really hated getting new kids, breaking them in to the whole Life as a Mutant Teen schtick got really old...

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
Had it been anyone else but Kurt, she probably would have slapped them for even _trying_ to reassure her by patting her. But then again, if anyone else had taken off their shirt and flopped across her lap, she'd have had an entirely different reaction as well. She figured that as far as similarities went, Kurt had more in common with the new girl than she did. She couldn't really talk about having to learn English and slipping up sometimes, so she let the two of them have their little ESL moment. Cute. Foreigners, bonding over hippos.

She sat next to Mariko for as long as she could, before giving up. Better to get that out of the way right off the bat, anyway. Kurt moved, flopping back down again as soon as she'd repositioned herself. Really, the boy needed to lose some weight. The nagging voice in her head urged her to be friendly and ask Mariko a question, and she pieced together the most obvious one. The powers question, really the simplest of all of the possible things to ask a new student at the Institute.

**"I can tolerate being near strangers, not just people I know without threatening to kill them, which is apparently kind of unusual."** FuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckFUCK. **"Oh, not to mention not making weird jokes to make fun of the new kid. Don't worry; I'll be nowhere near you."** She frowned, another stream of fucks running through her head, and a few fits of laughter from some of the more immature psyches. As the new girl stood up, she opened her mouth. What was she supposed to say? **"I just can't handle this right now."** She sighed, glancing at Kurt for a second, before getting ready to stand up. Why did people have to be so goddamn sensitive?

**"Wait, don't go, bitte! We didn't mean it that way."** She nodded in agreement, as his tail smacked her upside her head. Yeah, he'd pay for that later. **"Really.** **We're just used to everyone knowing about the weirdness factor around here is all. It really had nothing to do with you. Right, Schatze?"**

She nodded. "Yeah. Really. Like I said, it's nothing personal. I wasn't threatening you, I was trying to protect you. It's hard to get to know someone when they're de--" Maybe that wasn't the best way to phrase things. "I kill people with my skin."

Right, and that was _sooo_ much better. "I... And the hippo thing, it was only funny because of who our mother is. She's a shapeshifter. She really _could_ have been a hippo at one point."

She paused for a second, forgetting why the hell she cared if this new kid liked her or not. After a brief, unappreciated pep talk from Jean, Kitty, and... she could have sworn that was Toad, she finished simply, "Sorry."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Wait, don't go, bitte!"**

Mariko paused, turning to face Kurt. Her expression was strained and awkward. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but simply shook her head. It was easiest just to leave.

**"We didn't mean it that way. Really. We're just used to everyone knowing about the weirdness factor around here is all. It really had nothing to do with you. Right, Schatze?"**

That so wasn't even the issue. With a slight grunt of frustration, Mariko turned on her heel. Funnily enough, accusing her of intolerance was not the quickest way to her heart.

**"Yeah.** **Really. Like I said, it's nothing personal. I wasn't threatening you, I was trying to protect you. It's hard to get to know someone when they're de--I kill people with my skin."**

Hearing Rogue start to speak, Mariko paused, but did not turn to face her. Instead, she simply braced herself for the inevitable outburst. Rogue's apology, however was a definite surprise. Shoulders slumped, she turned around, still half expecting the other girl to start on her again. 

**"I... And the hippo thing, it was only funny because of who our mother is. She's a shapeshifter. She really could have been a hippo at one point. Sorry."**

Guiltily, Mariko shook her head. "It's okay, I shouldn't have flipped," she said by way of apology, "I promise I'm not normally this touchy, but I'm just so tired." In confessing, Mariko seemed to let her guard down, inadvertently baring her feelings more than she would have liked. "Or this much of a pushover," she added with an annoyed roll of her eyes. "I don't have a problem with weird, Kurt," she said slowly, her voice strained as her hand burst into flame, "I think it's kind of a theme here." She extinguished herself before continuing, "If you want, I can still go? It might be best." She really hoped they'd say no though.

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
Kurt watched, frustrated, as Mariko grunted and turned away despite his apology. They really needed to print out some kind of manual for this place. 'Don't take it personally if the girl with the stripey hair has personal space issues, don't ask the dude with the wings if he can put in a good word for you with The Man Upstairs, the fuzzy blue kid doesn't bite and won't sentence you to eternal damnation.' That sort of thing would make these awkward first meetings so very much less awkward, really. Or, well, they'd have to help a bit, anyway. 

**"Yeah.** **Really. Like I said, it's nothing personal. I wasn't threatening you, I was trying to protect you** Rogue chimed in, and he nodded in agreement. So she was a bit neurotic about it and going overboard but there was probably something to be said for being extra cautious around someone who didn't know what they were dealing with.

**"It's hard to get to know someone when they're de--I kill people with my skin."** Oh, and speaking of neurotic. He snorted quietly and stuck his tongue out at Rogue.

"Drama queen," he muttered quietly, poking her in the shoulder with one thick finger as Mariko paused and turned back to face them. She still looked on her guard, but at least it was a start.

**"I... And the hippo thing, it was only funny because of who our mother is**, Rogue continued, and Kurt grimaced comically at mention of her while nodding his agreement. **"She's a shapeshifter. She really could have been a hippo at one point. Sorry."**

**Guiltily, Mariko shook her head. "It's okay, I shouldn't have flipped," she said by way of apology, "I promise I'm not normally this touchy, but I'm just so tired. Or this much of a pushover," she added with an annoyed roll of her eyes. "I don't have a problem with weird, Kurt," she said slowly, her voice strained as her hand burst into flame, "I think it's kind of a theme here." She extinguished herself before continuing, "If you want, I can still go? It might be best."**

"Coool," Kurt commented with a grin at her handy dandy little mutant party trick. Funny, though, how the X-gene seemed to be partial to fire...speaking of which, Mariko should probably get a heads up about the nutjob firefreak roaming the halls considering her mutation. But not now. 

"And don't worry about it. Getting used to this place is a bit of an adjustment, and misunderstandings abound but, bitte, don't go?" He smiled encouragingly, fangs still neatly hidden because there was no reason to push the weird factor more than they already had. "We've got a movie, we've got popcorn, and I promise you the company's better than you might think. Weird, but you don't have a problem with that," he added with a wink before turning back to Rogue.

"Oh, and kill people with your skin? Pfft! Unconscious for a bit and a blinding headache after is _so_ not dead...just wishing you were for a few hours," he informed her with look of comical long-suffering.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
She whacked Kurt on the back of his head with the brush, narrowing her eyes at him for calling her a drama queen. Because she wasn't. She was realistic, that's all. Even though she hadn't yet, she _could_ theoretically kill someone. And she wasn't looking forward to the day when that happened. She watched Mariko, trying to decide whether or not the girl would accept her apology. Thankfully, she did. And what's more, she offered one of her own. Rogue nodded, trying to look like she understood. Of course, she had no idea where Mariko had just come from or what she'd been doing before they picked her up, so she really didn't know if the tiredness was real, or just an excuse.

**"I don't have a problem with weird, Kurt," she said slowly, her voice strained as her hand burst into flame, "I think it's kind of a theme here." She extinguished herself before continuing, "If you want, I can still go? It might be best." **And that, Rogue had to admit, was cool. It was like Pyro, except not crazy. And Mariko didn't seem to need a lighter. Of course, that meant that if she was around and using her powers, Pyro probably didn't need one either, but still. It was neat.

**"And don't worry about it. Getting used to this place is a bit of an adjustment, and misunderstandings abound but, bitte, don't go? We've got a movie, we've got popcorn, and I promise you the company's better than you might think. Weird, but you don't have a problem with that."** She nodded. The new girl could watch with them. She had no problem with that. **"Oh, and kill people with your skin? Pfft! Unconscious for a bit and a blinding headache is so not dead...just wishing you were for a few hours."** She had the sudden urge to smack him with the brush one more time. Instead, she took off one of her gloves, flexed her fingers and turned to Mariko again with a smile. "Would you like a demonstration? I believe Kurt has just volunteered."

She turned back to him, her expression hard. She didn't like the fact that he was downplaying just how serious it was. It was more than just someone becoming unconscious. She took a piece of them, and she knew it. She could feel it. There were tiny little fragments of people in her head, and she couldn't get rid of them. Pulling her glove back on, she reconsidered. "On second thought... Not sure I want you bouncing around my head today."

Anymore than he already was, at least.

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Coool."**

Despite herself, Mariko smiled. It was nice to hear that kind of reaction for a change; not that anyone had seen what she could do for a long time now.

**"And don't worry about it. Getting used to this place is a bit of an adjustment, and misunderstandings abound but, bitte, don't go? We've got a movie, we've got popcorn, and I promise you the company's better than you might think. Weird, but you don't have a problem with that."**

She was half convinced that leaving was the right thing to do. The chance just to hang out with popcorn and a movie was tempting. She smiled right back at Kurt before returning to the couch. This time, however, she sat on the arm, to make sure that she was giving Rogue enough breathing room. A different chair may have been safer, but it probably would have looked patronizing, too. 

**"Oh, and kill people with your skin? Pfft! Unconscious for a bit and a blinding headache is so not dead...just wishing you were for a few hours."**

"Would you like a demonstration? I believe Kurt has just volunteered."

"On second thought... Not sure I want you bouncing around my head today." 

Mariko grinned at the friendly bickering between the two. It was probably a safe bet that they'd both been here a while. Or had one of them said something about 'their mother' or had she misheard? Could she ask if they were without seeming insensitive? "Did you guys say you're like brother and sister?" she asked as she reached for another handful of popcorn.


	5. Chapter 5

**Kurt**  
—  
He relaxed, his smile stretching wider as Mariko agreed to stay and pulled up...the arm of the couch. Apparently Rogue had made her point a bit too well.

**"Would you like a demonstration? I believe Kurt has just volunteered."**

He grinned cheekily at Rogue when she tugged off a glove and shot him one of her patented glares of flaming death.

"Goodbye, cruel world," he warbled in response, shrinking melodramatically away from her.

Not like he didn't agree that her power was both dangerous and sucktastic, of course, but he absolutely refused to let her get away with isolating herself or thinking she was less than human because of it. Bad enough that she was stuck carting bits and pieces of all of them around with her all the time, but it still wasn't an excuse for being so verdammt paranoid with everyone. Not that it was an argument he ever seemed likely to win, of course, but it didn't mean he'd stop trying. He was nothing if not stubborn, after all.

**"On second thought... Not sure I want you bouncing around my head today."  
**  
"Hah! Saved by...wait, what's wrong with having me bounce around your head?" he asked, sticking his tongue out at her as his tail twined around her wrist and tugged her back towards the couch.

**"Did you guys say you're like brother and sister?"** Mariko asked as he perched comfortably on the edge of the couch and tugged on Rogue again to get her to sit next to him.

"Heh." He pushed a hand through his disheveled hair. "Kind of sort of in a manner of speaking but not really?" he answered unhelpfully, golden eyes sparkling as he shot a mischievous grin between Rogue and Mariko.

"Really, though, my psycho mother - who dumped _me _not long after squeezing me out," he wrinkled his nose in distaste, "adopted _her _a few years later. Managed to screw us both over pretty thoroughly along the way, so it's as good a familial bond as any, nein?" he asked with deceptive cheer as he leaned closer to Rogue.

"Do you see the family resemblance?"

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Hah! Saved by...wait, what's wrong with having me bounce around your head?"**

She snorted. "Have you _met_ yourself?" In response, he stuck out his tongue and yanked her back toward the couch. Kurt Wagner, the epitome of maturity.

**"Did you guys say you're like brother and sister?"** She turned to answer, but was jerked onto the couch before any words were able to leave her mouth. Kurt was lucky that she didn't want to offend the new kid anymore than she already had. Clamping her mouth shut, she sat down next to him.

**"Heh."** **He pushed a hand through his disheveled hair. "Kind of sort of in a manner of speaking but not really?"** Yes, talking in convoluted, incomprehensible circles was exactly the kind of thing that people learning the language liked to be confronted with. Kurt, of all people, should have known that.

**"Really, though, my psycho mother - who dumped me not long after squeezing me out," he wrinkled his nose in distaste, "adopted her a few years later. Managed to screw us both over pretty thoroughly along the way, so it's as good a familial bond as any, nein?"** She shot him a somewhat supportive look. About as supportive as she could muster, considering the fact that her wrist was tingling in an unnatural way from all of his yanking. Mystique was a complicated thing. A fucked up, complicated thing. It never ceased to amaze her that someone like that could actually exist. How anyone was able to use another human being like that was beyond her. And the fact that she'd allowed herself to be used was even more sickening.

**"Do you see the family resemblance?"** She snapped back to attention as Kurt leaned in, and it was all she could do to keep herself from reaching out and pushing him away by his face. Instead, she pulled her legs up onto the couch and straightened one of them out, pushing him away with her shoe. Looking back at Mariko, she added, "You'll probably get to meet her sometime. She's got a nasty habit of stopping by to interfere with our lives, make us help evil superbeings take over the world..."

Fucking Apocalypse. 

Pulling her leg back, she frowned. Yup, all the happiness was officially sucked from the air. Goddamn Mystique, ruining her life even when she wasn't actually there. _I'm always h--_ "Shut the fuck up."

She looked up, realizing that she'd been responding to the psyche aloud. Sighing, she closed her eyes. "Sorry about that. She was talking."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Heh.** **Kind of sort of in a manner of speaking but not really?"**

Mariko arched one eyebrow inquisitively, a slight smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. Kurt was kind of fun, plus the fact that he seemed to speak worse English than she did was somehow reassuring.

**"Really, though, my psycho mother - who dumped me not long after squeezing me out, adopted her a few years later. Managed to screw us both over pretty thoroughly along the way, so it's as good a familial bond as any, nein?" **

Kurt grimaced and Mariko wrinkled her nose as well, that sounded like a level of unfun that she couldn't even begin to imagine.

**"Do you see the family resemblance?"**

"Yeah, it's in the,-" Mariko frowned as she waved a finger in a lazy circle around Kurt and Rogue's faces, "eyes?" she ventured after a moment, grinning broadly.

**"You'll probably get to meet her sometime. She's got a nasty habit of stopping by to interfere with our lives, make us help evil superbeings take over the world..."**

Mariko's grin faded; so much for mutant school being a happy little safe haven. Not too mention that however bad things were for her, they must have been infinitely worse for Kurt and Rogue. She was about to attempt some conciliatory words but apparently that wasn't such a good idea.

**"Shut the fuck up. Sorry about that. She was talking."**

The following words were even more confusing. For a moment, Mariko considered the possibility that Rogue was insane. All she'd seen, however, made her convinced that that would have been a rash mistake. "Can I ask?" she ventured tentatively. She was fairly sure that she didn't fully understand Rogue's powers. Or maybe it was something to do with her mother's powers.

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
Kurt almost laughed at the look Rogue shot him when he finished his explanation. He was pretty sure it was meant to be encouraging or something, but it came off looking a whole lot more like she had gas than anything else. Of course it didn't hold a candle to the glare it switched into as he leaned closer so Mariko could admire their non-existent family resemblance and she used her foot to unceremoniously shove him away. Mariko, at least, was more relaxed, though.

**"Yeah, it's in the,-" Mariko frowned as she waved a finger in a lazy circle around Kurt and Rogue's faces, "eyes?" she ventured after a moment, grinning broadly** and Kurt smiled back cheerily in response for the moment before Rogue went into little black raincloud mode.

**"You'll probably get to meet her sometime. She's got a nasty habit of stopping by to interfere with our lives, make us help evil superbeings take over the world..."** she informed Mariko and Kurt resisted the urge to groan at the turn this conversation was taking...all that perfectly good brushing gone to waste if she was going to tie herself up in knots like that. Not to mention that Mariko looked more than a little taken aback by the comment, and he shot her a reassuring look, which was all he really got the chance for before Rogue was talking again.

**"Shut the fuck up."** she snarled half under her breath and Kurt grimaced at the realization that she was holding an argument with...well, probably with Mystique, under the circumstances. Some serious damage control was in order here, but he wasn't entirely sure how to go about it at this point, so he just shot Mariko what he hoped was a reassuring look as Rogue, apparently just realizing what she'd done, sighed and closed her eyes before apologizing.

"Tell her to go find Buckethead and bitch at him if she's in the mood to screw with someone," he suggested, throwing caution to the winds and reaching out to squeeze her arm gently. She probably wouldn't take it well at the moment, but he had no real idea what else to do and he was entirely too tactile to be able to resist the instinct to offer some kind of physical comfort. Too bad it was probably too late to assume himself into any more brushing, since he'd lay money that it relaxed her almost as much as it did him. Suck.

**"Can I ask?"** Mariko asked tentatively, and Kurt marveled at the girl's balls, sticking it out through this conversation. Definitely had to give her credit for that. And much as he would have liked to spare Rogue answering that one, he wasn't touching it with a ten foot pole with her sitting right there.

"Hey, look!" he pointed to the TV in some vague hope of redirecting the conversation, "it's Miracle Max. Gotta love Miracle Max..."

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
She cracked a smile at Mariko's attempt to find a resemblance between the two, almost forgetting that the link between them was Mystique. Almost. It was probably a good idea to inform the new girl of the bitch and her tendencies toward maniacal kidnapping plots. As the remnant of Mystique's psyche voiced her opinions in Rogue's head, she hissed for it to stop, realizing too late that she had been speaking aloud.

**"Tell her to go find Buckethead and bitch at him if she's in the mood to screw with someone."** She flinched as he put his hand on her arm, not expecting the sudden contact. Glaring at him, despite the fact that he wasn't the one she was angry with, she scoffed. "Right. Because the two of them arguing is so much better."

She closed her eyes again, trying to build up a mental wall, as the Professor had taught her. The walls never held everyone.

**"Can I ask?"** She opened one eye and looked at Mariko, expression stoic. She really didn't want to explain everything, but it was probably better for Mariko to hear it straight from her than from Bobby or someone. He'd probably just tell her that Rogue was schizophrenic. "Whenever I absorb someone, part of their mind gets stuck in mine. I can hear them. They talk. A lot."

Frowning, she turned back to the popcorn, not entirely keen on looking at anyone. Maybe it was time she just went back to her room. She wasn't the best at playing welcome wagon, but Kurt could handle it. He'd be fine hanging out with the new girl if she left. He'd already been brushed, and that was what he'd dragged her downstairs for in the first place. Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose.

**"Hey, look!"** She turned her head slightly, following Kurt's finger back to the television screen. **"it's Miracle Max. Gotta love Miracle Max..."**

Well, it was a nice try at least. She sighed, trying to think of something worthwhile to add to the conversation. It just wasn't happening. She'd have to settle. "Billy Crystal has a gigantic forehead. Bet he's a mutant."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Hey, look!** **It's Miracle Max. Gotta love Miracle Max..."**

Miracle Max? "Yes, you have to love Miracle Max," Mariko agreed with something less than concrete certainty. "Who is Miracle Max?" Glancing at the screen, it didn't take her long to decide who Miracle Max was. She wasn't entirely sure why she was supposed to love him.

**"Whenever I absorb someone, part of their mind gets stuck in mine. I can hear them. They talk. A lot."**

Mariko grimaced but said nothing. She wasn't too sure that there was anything she could say that wouldn't just sound trite.

**"Billy Crystal has a gigantic forehead. Bet he's a mutant."**

Fingers dancing erratically in the air, Mariko gave an evil laugh, "Fear the wrath of the uber-headbutt," she demanded before planting her fists firmly on her hips and angling her head back. It was clearly the pose of a leader worthy of fear and adulation. Tucking her legs up so she was balanced cross legged on the arm, Mariko let her hands fall onto her knees as she shot the pair an apologetic grin. "It was the only power I could pair with a big forehead."

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
Okay, maybe Miracle Max wasn't the best diversion in the world, especially when New Girl - Mariko - obviously didn't have any clue who he was. But it was the best he could do under the circumstances, and Mariko and Rogue were both making an effort, Gott sei danke.

**"Yes, you have to love Miracle Max," Mariko agreed with something less than concrete certainty. "Who is Miracle Max?"**

"Don't rush me sonny. You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles," Kurt quoted along with Billy Crystal, grinning over at Mariko as he did so.  
**  
"Billy Crystal has a gigantic forehead. Bet he's a mutant."** Rogue chipped in and Kurt cocked his head slightly, knees pulled up and tail tip twitching as he gave the matter due consideration.

**Fingers dancing erratically in the air, Mariko gave an evil laugh, "Fear the wrath of the uber-headbutt," she demanded before planting her fists firmly on her hips and angling her head back** and Kurt snorted in laughter. 

**Tucking her legs up so she was balanced cross legged on the arm, Mariko let her hands fall onto her knees as she shot the pair an apologetic grin. "It was the only power I could pair with a big forehead."**

"Gott, that would definitely take the prize for codenames," he offered, still laughing as he continued. "Headbutt Man, with the uncanny mutant ability to do impressions. Maybe he doesn't need makeup for any of his roles.

"Ever wonder," he asked, leaning back into the cushions and grinning between the two girls as he grabbed another handful of popcorn, "if there's anyone out there with some totally lame power like peeing in technicolor or growing their hair superfast?"

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
It was a stupid observation, and she fully expected the both of them to just laugh at her. Not with her, at her. **"Fear the wrath of the uber-headbutt,"** Or they could run with it. That was always a good thing. She watched Mariko strike a pose and almost smiled. Almost. The whole Mystique thing had put a bit of a dampener on her mood. **"It was the only power I could pair with a big forehead."**

**"Gott, that would definitely take the prize for codenames. Headbutt Man, with the uncanny mutant ability to do impressions. Maybe he doesn't need makeup for any of his roles."** Were they really talking about Billy Crystal's forehead? She wasn't sure if that was worse than it would have been if they'd just decided to ignore the comment. She smirked, getting as close to an actual smile as she probably would for a little bit.

"Nah. Nothing beats Schlong the One-Eyed Monster."

And really, nothing did. Scott was, after all, a dick.

**"Ever wonder if there's anyone out there with some totally lame power like peeing in technicolor or growing their hair superfast?"** She thought about it for a minute. There had to be someone somewhere with an utterly useless power. Growing hair superfast wasn't a cool thing. Not at all. Learned that the hard way the first time she met Sabretooth. Peeing in technicolor, though...

"I'd pay to see someone piss the rainbow."


	6. Chapter 6

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Don't rush me sonny. You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles."**

Mariko grinned at Kurt's impression and made a mental note to add 'dork' to her assessment of him.

**"Gott, that would definitely take the prize for codenames. Headbutt Man, with the uncanny mutant ability to do impressions. Maybe he doesn't need makeup for any of his roles. "**

"Headbutt Man?" Mariko mused, gazing up towards the ceiling with a grin. "Kind of lame. I'm thinking more along the lines of Dr Headbutt. Or Professor. Either works," she decided as she helped herself to a handful of popcorn.

**"Nah. Nothing beats Schlong the One-Eyed Monster."**

Mariko snickered, forcing her to hold a hand over her mouth to stop her from spraying popcorn over Kurt and Rogue. "Schlong the One Eyed Monster? He sounds... scary?" Scary was as good a word as any, if only because she honestly had no idea how it sounded. Other than phallic. She had a vague impression that was slang she didn't know and that speaking up would be kind of unnecessary.  
**  
"Ever wonder, if there's anyone out there with some totally lame power like peeing in technicolor or growing their hair superfast?"**

It could have worked the other way, too; growing your hair in technicolour. Or peeing superfast.

**"I'd pay to see someone piss the rainbow."**

Mariko just grinned as Rogue chimed in, before nodding. "I'll be honest," she said slowly, feigning seriousness, "I think you've got something there, but it's lacking." As she outlined, her plans, her hands drew a landscape in the air, inviting Kurt and Rogue to share her vision. "I kind of feel like it could use something more. I'm seeing music, I'm seeing someone burping the national anthem as accompaniment." She paused and shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not sure whose, but I think yours would be easier," she said with a nod towards Rogue. "I don't know how the German one goes though," she said, clutching her hands together against her chest as she glanced apologetically at Kurt. There could have been another apology coming if she had his accent wrong.

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"Headbutt Man?" Mariko mused, gazing up towards the ceiling with a grin. "Kind of lame. I'm thinking more along the lines of Dr Headbutt. Or Professor. Either works," she decided as she helped herself to a handful of popcorn** and Kurt nearly choked laughing at the idea of _Professor_ Headbutt...a state of affairs that didn't improve much when Rogue tossed in her two cents.

**"Nah. Nothing beats Schlong the One-Eyed Monster." **Oh. Dear. Gott. She'd told him about that one from some weirdass mutant fansite she'd found on the internet, and he was almost tempted to brave the horrors of navigating cyberspace to check it out. He wasn't really sure he wanted to see what the unwashed masses were saying about them, but it might be worth it just to see all the sorry excuses for codenames someone had dreamed up for them.

**"Schlong the One Eyed Monster? He sounds... scary?"**

"Terrifying," Kurt agreed, burying his face in his hands as he beat Rogue lightly on the leg with his tail. "And you're so lucky I wasn't eating," he added, mock-glaring at her...and then sticking his tongue out at her for emphasis. "I probably would have choked and then you would have been stuck doing the Heimlich on me."

"Ever wonder, if there's anyone out there with some totally lame power like peeing in technicolor or growing their hair superfast?" he asked as he finally managed to stop laughing long enough to risk eating more popcorn.

"I'd pay to see someone piss the rainbow." Rogue answered after only a moment's thought and he rolled his eyes, shaking his head in bemused disbelief.

"You know, that might be one of the more disturbing things you've ever said - mostly because I think I believe you," he shot back before filling his mouth with popcorn.

**Mariko just grinned as Rogue chimed in, before nodding. "I'll be honest," she said slowly, feigning seriousness, "I think you've got something there, but it's lacking."** Munching contentedly on his popcorn, Kurt watched her wave her hands about animatedly as she delineated her 'vision'.

**"I kind of feel like it could use something more. I'm seeing music, I'm seeing someone burping the national anthem as accompaniment." She paused and shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not sure whose, but I think yours would be easier," she said with a nod towards Rogue. "I don't know how the German one goes though."**

He blinked at her for a moment, processing the fact that she was, apparently, proposing rainbow-piss based performance art. How very disturbing...he just might be in love...

"Ach, you're not missing much," he informed her with a cheerfully dismissive wave of one hand. "I barely know it either. Now _Die Bayernhymne_ is an entirely different story," he added, grinning. Good Bavarian boy that he was he was entirely more attached to that than the gutted remnants of the German anthem. Still, for her purposes there might be some better options, "but despite the...dignity...that an anthem might give the performance, I'm thinking that maybe _Somewhere Over the Rainbow_ or _Rainbow Connection_ might be more appropriate, ja?"

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
Professor Headbutt. Now that she thought about it, Xavier _did_ have a rather large head as well... Still, the best codename she'd ever heard was the one that had been assigned to Scott by the douchebags that populated the big mutant fansite. Normally, she couldn't stand them. But she felt like it was a good idea to give whoever came up with that name a big hug. Then a slap, for calling her Vampyra. Mariko seemed amused by the name as well, and Kurt smacked her with his tail.

**"And you're so lucky I wasn't eating. I probably would have choked and then you would have been stuck doing the Heimlich on me."** She snorted. That would have been entertaining. "What makes you think I'd do that, Fuzzbutt?" 

And then, the conversation turned. Next thing she knew, she was praising the coolness of technicolor pissing. Which, really, would be interesting to see. Not just for the exposure to the naughty bits. **"You know, that might be one of the more disturbing things you've ever said - mostly because I think I believe you."**

She nodded. "Good. Because you show me someone who can do that and I'm first in line to check it out." She lifted her drink to her mouth as Mariko added in her two cents. **"I'll be honest," she said slowly, feigning seriousness, "I think you've got something there, but it's lacking."** She raised an eyebrow. What could possibly be lacking? Technicolor urination in itself felt like a pretty whole idea.

**"I kind of feel like it could use something more. I'm seeing music, I'm seeing someone burping the national anthem as accompaniment." She paused and shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not sure whose, but I think yours would be easier," she said with a nod towards Rogue. "I don't know how the German one goes though."** It was all she could do to keep from spraying soda out of her nose. Of all of the new kids they'd gotten that day, Mariko was her official favorite. That wasn't saying much, though, since the only other one as far as she knew was Pyro. Still, though, Mariko was cool.

She crossed the room for a tissue and blew her nose, frowning at the bit of makeup that came off. By the time she returned to the couch, Kurt was done talking about German songs and had moved on. **"But despite the...dignity...that an anthem might give the performance, I'm thinking that maybe Somewhere Over the Rainbow or Rainbow Connection might be more appropriate, ja?"**

She reached over and grabbed a handful of popcorn, nodding. "Or anything by the Village People."

_Nothing_ screamed rainbow quite like the Village People.

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Ach, you're not missing much. I barely know it either. Now Die Bayernhymne is an entirely different story."**

Frowning, Mariko opened her mouth to tell Kurt that she had no idea what he was talking about. A moment's reconsideration, however and she quickly decided that it probably couldn't be that interesting. Promptly, she snapped her mouth shut again. Fortunately, Kurt didn't seem to notice; instead, he just continued talking.

**"but despite the...dignity...that an anthem might give the performance, I'm thinking that maybe Somewhere Over the Rainbow or Rainbow Connection might be more appropriate, ja?"**

"Or anything by the Village People."

"The who?" Mariko asked quickly. There were a lot of Western bands she did know, but the Village people were not one of them.

She waited a moment for an answer, before turning her attention back to Kurt. "Yeah and if we ever took the act to London, we could use London calling by The Clash," she deadpanned, before continuing, "we don't have to be so literal," she teased, poking her tongue out. She paused as an epiphany hit her. "Besides, I have the perfect piece." She held up her hands to call for quiet. "The Anvil Chorus," she said as though it was the most important thing she'd ever said. "Shush, shush, shush," she said, still holding up her hands to try to forestall any arguments, "don't think," she continued, clenching one hand into a fist as she gazed downwards as if summoning some deep emotion, "just feel." 

Giggling ever so slightly, Mariko glanced at the TV, seeking some reassurance that she wasn't actually debating the best music to pee the rainbow to. "I have no idea what's going on in this movie," she said abruptly.

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
She snorted at the suggestion she might have had to do the Heimlich on him and he shot her a reasonable facsimile of a thoroughly hurt look as she asked, **"What makes you think I'd do that, Fuzzbutt?"**

"I'm crushed, absolutely crushed," he informed her. "And brushing might be the only cure for it," he added with a wink before commenting on her disturbing interest in rainbow piss.. 

**She nodded. "Good. Because you show me someone who can do that and I'm first in line to check it out." **

"Y'know," he commented to no one in particular, shaking his head slightly as he leaned back to look up at the ceiling. "I'm starting to think maybe I should check the boys' bathrooms and locker room for any conveniently placed holes..."

Mariko was well into her epiphany about anthems and technicolor urine, though, and his comment was lost as Rogue snorted her soda out her nose at the image and he and Mariko moved on to discussing the possible musical accompaniment for that kind of cutting edge performance art.  
**  
"Or anything by the Village People."** Rogue suggested as she returned, snagging some popcorn as she dropped next to him again. He chewed lightly on his upper lip thoughtfully and nodded in agreement. 

**"The who?" Mariko asked quickly** and he looked at her aghast.

"Nein, not The Who," he responded, grinning cheerily and waving his tail at her as he hopped to his feet. "The Village People. It's fun to stay at the YMCA," he sang enthusiastically - motions included, of course - before flopping back onto the couch and letting her continue with her own suggestions for musical accompaniment.

**"Yeah and if we ever took the act to London, we could use London calling by The Clash," she deadpanned, before continuing, "we don't have to be so literal," she teased, poking her tongue out** and he responded in kind because, hey, childish? He could do childish with the best of them.

**"Besides, I have the perfect piece." She held up her hands to call for quiet** and he cocked his head inquisitively as he waited for her latest contribution to the insanity. She was definitely going to fit in just fine around here. "**The Anvil Chorus," she said as though it was the most important thing she'd ever said. "Shush, shush, shush," she said, still holding up her hands to try to forestall any arguments, "don't think," she continued, clenching one hand into a fist as she gazed downwards as if summoning some deep emotion, "just feel."**

"Thanks, but I'd rather not," he countered, flopping across Rogue's lap as he puckered his face up in a melodramatic wince. "Anything to do with hammers and anvils mentioned in the same context as some dude with his pants open is just...so not a good image," he finished with a shudder, pulling his knees up and sticking his tongue out at Mariko again.

**"I have no idea what's going on in this movie," she said abruptly.**

"Oooooh! 'My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die'," he recited along with Mandy Patinkin, more than happy for the distraction from that last, truly disturbing train of thought as he settled with his head comfortably in Rogue's lap.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
She tried her best to ignore his comment about the holes in the bathrooms. Because the chances of him finding them all were so slim... Before too long, she was wiping soda from her nose and the conversation had moved onto what exactly would be best sung along with technicolor pissing, and she was steering clear of the soda for a bit. Popcorn was safe, though. Popcorn couldn't make it's way up to her nose.

**"The who?"** Both eyebrows shot up. Mariko didn't know the Village people? Lucky. **"Nein, not The Who,"** She rolled her eyes. So punny, that Kurt was. And he was standing up. Standing up during a discussion about the Village people very rarely helped take away the weirdness factor. **"The Village People. It's fun to stay at the YMCA."** And it was because of things like that. She shook her head, trying to think of the best joke that could be made about how there weren't any Village People who were quite that hairy... nah, better to just drop it. 

She just watched, with a small smile on her face, as Mariko and Kurt discussed songs again and stuck their tongues out at each other like the immature four year olds that they were. Well, that Kurt was at least. Maybe he was just rubbing off on Mariko. Speaking of Mariko, she seemed to have gone back into her artistic director mode and was instructing them to feel. Kurt flopped back down on her lap and suddenly the only thing she felt was the sudden urge to kick him. As he voiced his opinion on the hammers and the anvils and squirmed around some more, she nearly did.

She stopped, though, when she realized just what Kurt's tail had decided to do. Really, that thing got itself into so many places that it shouldn't have been... she sat for a moment, not entirely sure how to go about pointing out the way that he was sitting and where it put his tail, which was (as usual) twitching around on it's own... **"I have no idea what's going on in this movie."**

Saved by Mariko's confusion. Kurt moved again, taking his tail with him, as he recited the line almost the exact same way as it was being said onscreen. The boy needed to get a life. Really. She looked down as he laid on her again, using her lap as a pillow. Right. Definitely didn't want to go there. Not after the tail thing. Looking at Mariko, she tried to ignore the face in her lap and explain what was going on in the movie. "He's looking for the six fingered man who killed his father. Six fingers on one hand. Not six total. That would just be weird."

She made a face at Kurt, hoping that if she kept up the whole sibling fake hate thing, she'd forget about what his tail was doing earlier and where his face was now. Fat chance.

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Nein, not The Who, The Village People. It's fun to stay at the YMCA,"**

That rung a bell and Mariko clicked the fingers of one hand as she pointed at Kurt. "Like in Wayne's World," she exclaimed enthusiastically, "I love that movie," she added. Thoughtfully, she frowned "The Village People are gay icons?" she asked curiously. Right. That would explain the rainbow connection.

**"Thanks, but I'd rather not. Anything to do with hammers and anvils mentioned in the same context as some dude with his pants open is just...so not a good image,"**

"Yeah," Mariko replied, the word elongated and drawn out dubiously as she tilted her head to one side. Briefly, she scratched her head before continuing. "This may be a cultural divide thing," she began, touching one hand to her chest, "but back where I come from though, most people would probably think that 'some dude' wondering around 'with his pants open is just... so not a good image'," she teased.

**"Oooooh! 'My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die',"**

"Thanks, that explains... so much," Mariko replied before glancing at Rogue, eyebrows raised in an unvoiced question. 

**"He's looking for the six fingered man who killed his father. Six fingers on one hand. Not six total. That would just be weird."**

"Thank you," Mariko said with a nod, "and the big guy with the mini afro and the little guy with the moustache? Are they like sidekicks?"

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"Yeah," Mariko replied, the word elongated and drawn out dubiously as she tilted her head to one side. Briefly, she scratched her head before continuing. "This may be a cultural divide thing," she began, touching one hand to her chest, "but back where I come from though, most people would probably think that 'some dude' wondering around 'with his pants down is just... so not a good image'," she teased.**

"Details details," he replied, waving his hand airily in dismissal as he shifted around to make himself comfortable. Rogue really needed to do something about those bony knees. Of course, her lap would be a lot more comfortable if she wasn't doing the whole tense and uncomfortable thing just because he was being so up close and personal, but that was life. One of these days she'd relax about it and if not, well, at least she didn't always go for the knee jerk response of beating him off and having a panic attack. Progress was progress, after all, and he simply made himself as comfortable as possible while devoting his attention to the glory that was the remainder of The Princess Bride as Mariko expressed her confusion.

Of course, he didn't really do anything to bring her up to speed, but sometimes you just had to go with the quote.  
**  
"Thanks, that explains... so much," Mariko replied before glancing at Rogue, eyebrows raised in an unvoiced question.**

"Doesn't it though?" he shot back with a grin as Rogue started in on her own summary. Couldn't deprive her of her share in the joy of...hey, what was that??

**"He's looking for the six fingered man who killed his father. Six fingers on one hand. Not six total. That would just be weird."**

He twisted over onto his back so he could glare up at her - even if a lot of the effect probably was lost due to his position - and smacked her on the shoulder with his tail for good measure. Of course, she was already making a face down at him and he rolled his eyes, sticking his tongue out at her before his expression shifted abruptly into a grin. "You're just jealous of the fur and the tail," he informed her with an indulgent shake of his head. "It's all right, though, so many people are," he added, smiling over at Mariko as he patted Rogue's shoulder consolingly.

**"Thank you," Mariko said with a nod, "and the big guy with the mini afro and the little guy with the moustache? Are they like sidekicks?"**

"You know," he answered, shifting his attention back to the screen at her question, "I might need to dig up the video so you can see it from the beginning. A classic like The Princess Bride deserves to be properly appreciated from the beginning."


	7. Chapter 7

Reading? Reviews'd sure be nice. We know there's someone out there reading this, since the hit count keeps going up. Come on, folks, feed the authors, it gives them the warm fuzzies.

**Rogue**

—  
She was glad that Kurt picked up on the obvious jab at his appearance. Really, she'd never so much as given the way he looked a second thought. Okay, maybe at first but the way she'd seen him was remarkably traumatic. Absorbing him right off the bat probably had something to do with it. She knew that he was really a normal guy before she even knew him. Still, it was fun to bug him about it. He knew that she really had no hang-ups about his appearance, and all was good in the world. 

**"You're just jealous of the fur and the tail," he informed her with an indulgent shake of his head. "It's all right, though, so many people are."**

She sighed dramatically. "You're right. I want to be blue."

**"Thank you," Mariko said with a nod, "and the big guy with the mini afro and the little guy with the moustache? Are they like sidekicks?"** She looked at Mariko again, nodding in response to the girl's thank you. The big guy with the mini afro and the little guy with the moustache. Hm. She'd let Kurt take this one.

**"You know," he answered, shifting his attention back to the screen at her question, "I might need to dig up the video so you can see it from the beginning. A classic like The Princess Bride deserves to be properly appreciated from the beginning."**

She nodded. That was most definitely true. Of course, when Kurt said dig up the video, he probably meant it. There were so many movies in the collection, it was always fun trying to find one particular one. Especially when people didn't put them back properly. Just another one of the many things that really bothered her. She was pretty sure that she could blame Bobby for that, too.

Which reminded her... "Hey, Fuzzbutt." Poking Kurt in the side of the head, she raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You come up with anything good along the lines of revenge for breakfast? I haven't seen Bobby all day, but he's going to pay sometime."

Looking up at Mariko, she felt sort of bad about leaving her out of the conversation. But it was something important that just had to be discussed. Maybe a brief synopsis of the day's activities..."Kid dumped water on us and Kitty at breakfast. Thinks he's funny. He's going to die one of these days."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"I might need to dig up the video so you can see it from the beginning. A classic like The Princess Bride deserves to be properly appreciated from the beginning."**

Mariko smiled and gave the slightest nod of her head, "I think I'd like that," she said, graciously. She wasn't entirely sure she would, but it only seemed like the polite thing to say. Besides, blowing off potential friends at this point seemed like a dumb move.

**"Hey, Fuzzbutt."** **Poking Kurt in the side of the head, she raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You come up with anything good along the lines of revenge for breakfast? I haven't seen Bobby all day, but he's going to pay sometime."**

Curiously, Mariko glanced from Rogue to Kurt, before glancing back to the telly. Whatever they were talking about clearly had nothing to do with her. 

**"Kid dumped water on us and Kitty at breakfast. Thinks he's funny. He's going to die one of these days."**

Kitty? For a moment, Mariko frowned. She was fairly sure she didn't know anyone else here, so why was that familiar? "Kitty who appeared on TV with you?" she asked, pointing a finger at Kurt. "Cool."

It was weird. Even having seen Kurt on TV before; even being warned about him by the professor, she'd been shocked to see him face to face. Still, she was cool with it now. At least mostly.

* * *

**Kurt**

—  
**She sighed dramatically. "You're right. I want to be blue."**

"All the cool kids do," he countered. "Just ask Herr McCoy. Blue fur's the new in mutation. Of course, I've cornered the market on tails, pity for the rest of you," he added, waving aforementioned appendage cheerily around and then using it to retrieve the popcorn bowl so he could grab another handful.

Mariko smiled and gave the slightest nod of her head at his insistence that they needed to give up and just introduce her to The Princess Bride from the beginning, **"I think I'd like that," she said, graciously**, and he grinned back, fangs forgotten in the face of her general coolness. Of course, she was probably agreeing just to be polite, but that worked. It was all the in he needed to get her hooked on one of the greatest movies of all time.

**"Hey, Fuzzbutt."** Rogue poked him insistently in the side of the head as she spoke and he looked back at her, slapping lightly at her hand as he did so. **"You come up with anything good along the lines of revenge for breakfast? I haven't seen Bobby all day, but he's going to pay sometime."**

**"Kid dumped water on us and Kitty at breakfast. Thinks he's funny. He's going to die one of these days."** she added for Mariko's benefit and Kurt grinned and shook his head at the new girl.

"Don't mind her, if she hasn't threatened someone with death or dismemberment at least once before bedtime then her day's not complete," he told her with a wink.

"As for Bobby," he continued, shifting his attention back to Rogue with a grin," nothing specific yet, but Kaetzchen's in on whatever it is too. And if we don't manage to nail him before then, tomorrow at the lake might be a good chance to get him somehow," he suggested thoughtfully. "I'd say we should try and come up with something for tonight except we'll be at the concert, which is a hell of a wasted opportunity," he added, "because Bobby will too." 

**"Kitty who appeared on TV with you?" Mariko asked, pointing a finger at Kurt. "Cool."**

"Ja," he answered cheerily as his tail deposited the popcorn bowl on his bare belly, "my forty-five seconds of fame as 'Oh My God what _is_ that blue thing?' And you totally should have seen the look on the reporter dude's face when Kaetzchen and I 'ported into that chopper, it was priceless," he added with a wink.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"All the cool kids do," he countered. "Just ask Herr McCoy. Blue fur's the new in mutation. Of course, I've cornered the market on tails, pity for the rest of you."**

She resisted the urge to inform him that if more people had tails like him, she'd probably be getting molested on a regular basis. Better to move on. Move on to something less awkward. Like killing Bobby. Always a good solid topic. **"Don't mind her, if she hasn't threatened someone with death or dismemberment at least once before bedtime then her day's not complete."** She glared down at him.

"You're next."

**"As for Bobby," he continued, shifting his attention back to Rogue with a grin," nothing specific yet, but Kaetzchen's in on whatever it is too. And if we don't' manage to nail him before then, tomorrow at the lake might be a good chance to get him somehow," he suggested thoughtfully. "I'd say we should try and come up with something for tonight except we'll be at the concert, which is a hell of a wasted opportunity," he added, "because Bobby will too."** She frowned. Going to the concert was a bad, bad idea. Everyone should have known that. Mariko didn't, of course, but Kurt... he'd been there. He knew that even the possibility of destroying Bobby wouldn't be enough to get her to go. Besides, there was always the distinct possibility that she accidentally _would_ actually kill someone. And she most definitely didn't want that.

"No concert."

**"Kitty who appeared on TV with you?" Mariko asked, pointing a finger at Kurt. "Cool."** Rogue had completely forgotten about Kurt and Kitty's little fifteen seconds of fame. That's what she needed. Just enough time to announce that her name was not Vampyra and that whoever'd saddled her with that was going to die painfully.

**"Ja, my forty-five seconds of fame as 'Oh My God what is that blue thing?' And you totally should have seen the look on the reporter dude's face when Kaetzchen and I 'ported into that chopper, it was priceless," he added with a wink.**

Nothing was more startling than a blue demon popping out of nowhere. Except maybe a normal looking boy turning into a blue demon right before your eyes. That was pretty damn startling, too. She peeled off one of her gloves and reached for the popcorn. Greasy gloves were not fun to have. Looking over at Mariko, she added to their conversation, "Kitty is my roommate. You'll probably meet her when she walks right through the bathroom door without knocking." 

Looking down at Kurt again, she put her hand on his chest. He was soft, and as long as he didn't move too much, there'd be no problem. The fur was thick enough. "Let me know if y'all come up with anything. You'd better not do anything at the concert without me."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Just ask Herr McCoy. Blue fur's the new in mutation. Of course, I've cornered the market on tails, pity for the rest of you,"**

Uncertainly, Mariko waved a finger at the bowl of popcorn. "You sure they don't just want to show you how weird it is to see your food handled by something that's not a hand?" Which possibly makes it taildled. Weird or not, though, she had no problems helping herself to another handful of popcorn.

Seeing Kurt grin, Mariko was somewhat taken aback and for a moment, she couldn't help but be taken a little aback. Her hesitation was fleeting though and her smile only gone for a couple of seconds. Kurt had fangs and so what? She could deal.

**"Don't mind her, if she hasn't threatened someone with death or dismemberment at least once before bedtime then her day's not complete."**

"I should have tried that at the place where I was staying!" Mariko exclaimed with a click of her fingers, "some of those creeps really deserved death and dismemberment." She gave a shrug of her shoulders before adopting a look of mock wonder, "Apparently, there are worse things than being homeless."

**"No concert."**

Mariko's eyebrows arched. She was picking up some pretty strong anti-concert sentiment. This time, she wasn't going to be dumb enough to ask.

**"Ja, my forty-five seconds of fame as 'Oh My God what is that blue thing?' And you totally should have seen the look on the reporter dude's face when Kaetzchen and I 'ported into that chopper, it was priceless,"**

"I can only imagine," Mariko replied with a grin. It felt like she'd missed so much. No doubt she had. On the plus side, she'd probably missed a lot of bad stuff, too.

**"Kitty is my roommate. You'll probably meet her when she walks right through the bathroom door without knocking**_."_

What? Mariko was about to ask how that worked, but already, Rogue was back on the subject of vengeance.

**"Let me know if y'all come up with anything. You'd better not do anything at the concert without me."**

Mariko considered offering her service and sure enough, it could have been fun. Still, the last thing she wanted was to be needy, over-eager to please, new kid. "Let me know how that goes?"

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**Uncertainly, Mariko waved a finger at the bowl of popcorn. "You sure they don't just want to show you how weird it is to see your food handled by something that's not a hand?"**

"Pfft! Weird? Around here weird is the natural state off affairs," he assured her, still grinning as she helped herself to popcorn despite her apparent reservations. "Wait until the first time Bobby freezes the pipes for the hell of it or Ray gets pissed at 'Berto and tries to zap his ass into next week. Soon enough getting snack food from a tail'll be one of the normal things."

Moving on, he blithely ignored Rogue's glare when he pointed out her fondness for threats, instead focusing on Mariko and her...pretty interesting...response to the comment.

**"I should have tried that at the place where I was staying!" she exclaimed with a click of her fingers, "some of those creeps really deserved death and dismemberment." She gave a shrug of her shoulders before adopting a look of mock wonder, "Apparently, there are worse things than being homeless."**

"It's amazing the kind of results you can get with a good, sincere death threat," he agreed, deciding that maybe now wasn't the best time to ask exactly what she was talking about...though she didn't seem touchy about it, so he'd probably go poking his nose into the subject later if an opportunity arose.

**"No concert."** was Rogue's only response to his thoughts on Bobby and revenge and he could have kicked himself - if his ass wasn't so firmly and comfortably settled on the couch - for even bringing up the subject. Gott knew he'd never even think of suggesting she come after that last time, but even mentioning it wasn't high on the list of clever or considerate things to do. He smiled apologetically up at her as his tail dropped the popcorn bowl on his belly and snaked down to wrap itself loosely around her calf. The verdammt thing had a mind of its own sometimes, but he didn't bother with unwrapping it, just shifted his attention back to answering Mariko's latest question. 

**"I can only imagine,"** she answered with a grin as Rogue took up the slack in explaining exactly who Kaetzchen was.

**"Kitty is my roommate. You'll probably meet her when she walks right through the bathroom door without knocking."**

"Gott, she's added so many potential victims to her list lately, hasn't she?" he added with a snort of laughter. "How many people _hasn't_ she..." his voice trailed off for a heartbeat as Rogue laid her bare hand lightly on his chest, but he picked up again quickly, "um, seen naked around here?" he finished with a half-smile.

**"Let me know if y'all come up with anything. You'd better not do anything at the concert without me." **

"Of course not," he shot back with a wounded look. "What kind of friends do you take us for? I sure hope it's not the kind that are stupid enough to risk death or dismemberment by leaving you out of the payback," he added with a wink.

**"Let me know how that goes?"**

"With any luck we'll come up with something you can't miss," he replied, uncoiling his tail from Rogue's leg as he spoke, since somewhere along the line it had tightened its grip noticeably, the verdammt thing.

"Are you going to come to the lake tomorrow afternoon?" His tail curled into a slightly restless question mark as he asked.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"I should have tried that at the place where I was staying!" Mariko exclaimed with a click of her fingers, "some of those creeps really deserved death and dismemberment." She gave a shrug of her shoulders before adopting a look of mock wonder, "Apparently, there are worse things than being homeless." **Rogue nodded. Really, when in doubt, death threat. It was the only rule to live by.

**  
"It's amazing the kind of results you can get with a good, sincere death threat.** Definitely true. Sometimes a well placed death threat was all it took.

Kurt's support at the mention of the concert thing wasn't unnoticed, and she looked down at him. Not really appreciating, but more acknowledging. God knew it wasn't his fault, she wasn't going to pretend that he was to blame. And she definitely didn't want everyone else in the mansion to stop going to concerts on her account, but there was no way in hell she was going to another so soon. Maybe in a few decades.

Best to get things away from the concert. Kitty was a safe subject. So was revenge. And revenge involving Kitty, well. That was quite possibly the safest of safe subjects. **"Gott, she's added so many potential victims to her list lately, hasn't she?" he added with a snort of laughter. "How many people hasn't she..." his voice trailed off for a heartbeat as Rogue laid her bare hand lightly on his chest, but he picked up again quickly, "um, seen naked around here?"** She caught the momentary lapse in his sentence and raised an eyebrow. If it bothered him, she'd stop. Not happily, but she would. He seemed to have composed himself, though, and it was probably a good idea to just keep on truckin'. She asked Kurt to make sure to keep her in the loop on their plans for revenge, and he replied, **"Of course not. What kind of friends do you take us for? I sure hope its not the kind that are stupid enough to risk death or dismemberment by leaving you out of the payback."**

She nodded, grinning maliciously and rather theatrically back down at him. "Good."

**"Let me know how that goes?"** She grinned at Mariko. In time, she was sure the girl would learn that when it came to revenge and pranking in the mansion, it was harder to go through the day without hearing about something than it was to completely miss a prank.

**"With any luck we'll come up with something you can't miss."**

She nodded again, adding, "Or it'll be something so emotionally scarring that he'll just have a dazed look on his face for days. And that speaks for itself."

**"Are you going to come to the lake tomorrow afternoon?"** She looked down at him again, still absently stroking his chest. The lake. Bathing suits and swimming and... all other kinds of lakey things. Not exactly her favorite place to be, but there was bound to be at least one shady spot where she could just sit and read without worrying about getting splashed or thrown into the water. Who knew, maybe if people were calm enough, she'd actually wear a bathing suit. Doubtful.

"You know me. Any excuse to work on my tan."

Glancing up at Mariko, she turned the question to her. "How about you? Up for a day of everyone wearing far too little and throwing water on each other like immature four year olds?"

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Wait until the first time Bobby freezes the pipes for the hell of it or Ray gets pissed at 'Berto and tries to zap his ass into next week. Soon enough getting snack food from a tail'll be one of the normal things around here**_."_

"Frozen pipes?" Mariko echoed, "should I be offering to help with your vengeance plans so I know you'll have my back when I need you?"

**"It's amazing the kind of results you can get with a good, sincere death threat,"**

Mariko said nothing, but simply replied with an amused grin.

**"Gott, she's added so many potential victims to her list lately, hasn't she? How many people hasn't she... um, seen naked around here?"**

Mariko's eyebrows arched. She was a little intrigued, mostly concerned, but a little intrigued. Still, the topic seemed to be heading past, so she was happy to put it on the back burner. She'd deal with it if and when it came up.

**"You know me. Any excuse to work on my tan."  
**  
With a broad grin, Mariko flicked out a finger to point at Rogue, "You know, I haven't known you more than a couple of minutes, but I could tell that," she teased. 

**"How about you?** **Up for a day of everyone wearing far too little and throwing water on each other like immature four year olds?"**

That did sound like fun, Mariko decided with a smile. It didn't take long for her expression to drop though. "I can't," she said after a moment, "when I was trying to cram everything I need into a rucksack, my bikini didn't seem that important. I could come down there in my underwear, but hey, who'd want to see that?" she joked with a grin, before shrugging, "I guess I can still come down anyway, shorts, t-shirt, just hang out."

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
Rogue looked down at him when he asked about the lake, hand still stroking absently across his chest in a way that really shouldn't feel that good because...well, it just shouldn't. Or he shouldn't notice. Or something. So he worked hard on not noticing and almost missed her answer.

**"You know me. Any excuse to work on my tan."**

**With a broad grin, Mariko flicked out a finger to point at Rogue, "You know, I haven't known you more than a couple of minutes, but I could tell that," she teased.**

"Damn, she's good. She's got you figured out already," he chimed in as Rogue passed the question along to Mariko.

**"How about you?** **Up for a day of everyone wearing far too little and throwing water on each other like immature four year olds?"**

Kurt looked hopefully at her as she smiled at Rogue's description. Obviously she had to come, after all. Couldn't miss a chance to come hang out and get to know everyone - and see them all at their most juvenile and entertaining, of course. And the fact that seeing her in her bathing suit would be a bonus had absolutely nothing to do with anything. At all. But then her face fell and Kurt cocked his head, wondering what was wrong...and still very much not thinking about Rogue's hand tracking its way across his chest, thanks. Nope. Not giving it a moment's thought.

**"I can't," she said after a moment, "when I was trying to cram everything I need into a rucksack, my bikini didn't seem that important. I could come down there in my underwear, but hey, who'd want to see that?" she joked with a grin** and his eyebrows crept right up into his hairline as he raised one hand with a pretty good approximation of a leer. **"I guess I can still come down anyway, shorts, t-shirt, just hang out."**

"Let's just pretend that wasn't a rhetorical question, shall we?" he asked. "And speaking for all the teenage boys in residence I think I can say that would be a very long line," he added with a grin and a wink, simultaneously trying not to cringe at the anticipated retaliation from Rogue.

"Seriously, though, you can probably borrow something from someone, and if not I'd be more than happy to introduce you to the wonders of beautiful downtown Bayville tomorrow, including a stop somewhere that sells bathing suits," he offered. Totally out of the goodness of his heart, of course.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

Reviews greatly appreciated guys, hope someone's enjoying this.

**Rogue**  
—  
**"You know, I haven't known you more than a couple of minutes, but I could tell that," she teased.** Rogue smiled, looking down as Kurt threw in his two cents. **"Damn, she's good. She's got you figured out already."** Shrugging, she conceded, "I'm transparent."

But back to the lake. She tossed the question in Mariko's direction, wondering if the girl had even been told about the lake day yet. Well, she knew now. Not like they weren't going to invite her and just hope that she didn't notice them. **"I can't," she said after a moment, "when I was trying to cram everything I need into a rucksack, my bikini didn't seem that important. I could come down there in my underwear, but hey, who'd want to see that?"** She swatted Kurt's hand down moments after it started to raise. No one needed that. Setting her hand gently back on his chest, she continued her stroking. **"I guess I can still come down anyway, shorts, t-shirt, just hang out."**

She nodded. That's what she was planning to do. Well, except for the shorts and t-shirt part. **"Let's just pretend that wasn't a rhetorical question, shall we? And speaking for all the teenage boys in residence I think I can say that would be a very long line."** She snorted, thumping him somewhat gently on the stomach. "Actually, some of the girls, too." She nodded, tapping her head with her free hand. Yup, some of the girls. Of course, she'd probably never tell anyone _which_ of the girls, but that was beside the point.

**"Seriously, though, you can probably borrow something from someone, and if not I'd be more than happy to introduce you to the wonders of beautiful downtown Bayville tomorrow, including a stop somewhere that sells bathing suits."** She nodded again. People were pretty good about borrowing things around the mansion. Someone was bound to have a suit that Mariko could borrow. "I'm sure someone will have an extra. And then you'll be saved from having to shop with Kurt."

She smiled down at the elf again as she traced the muscles of his stomach with her finger. Pausing for a second, she looked at Mariko, grinning. Without warning, she twisted in her seat and ran her fingers along Kurt's sides, tickling him. His fault, after all. First rule of the jungle was never to leave your underbelly exposed. He should have known.

**Mariko**  
—  
**"I'm transparent."**

Narrowing her eyes, Mariko cantered her head to one side as she studied Rogue, "Not yet," she said, using her finger to draw a slow, lazy circle around Rogue's face, "but a little longer without sun and I reckon you could get there."

Mariko was about smack Kurt's hand back down, but Rogue took care of it for her. Despite herself, Mariko grinned. Sure, it wasn't quite her demographic, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant to hear. **"Let's just pretend that wasn't a rhetorical question, shall we? And speaking for all the teenage boys in residence I think I can say that would be a very long line." **

"Actually, some of the girls, too."  
  
Mariko's eyes widened and she quickly did her best to hide it. That was interesting. As far as she could tell, there wasn't a subtle way of asking who Rogue was talking about. Unless the head tap was some kind of clue? Surreptitiously, Mariko stole a glance at Rogue, trying to see if the older girl was checking her out at all.

**"Seriously, though, you can probably borrow something from someone, and if not I'd be more than happy to introduce you to the wonders of beautiful downtown Bayville tomorrow, including a stop somewhere that sells bathing suits."**

"Right," Mariko replied, dragging the word out, "because you know, after what you just said, that doesn't make you sound like a perv at all."

**_"I'm sure someone will have an extra. And then you'll be saved from having to shop with Kurt."_**

Mariko grinned. Borrowing definitely sounded like a better idea. She shot an appreciative glance at Rogue, only to pause as she saw the other girl grinning at her. It definitely seemed possible that there was something going on here. Not that she was sure she was interested, but options were nice. Those thoughts were soon dismissed as Rogue attacked Kurt and Mariko nipped in to save the popcorn being tossed onto the floor.

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"Actually, some of the girls, too."** Rogue commented, tapping her head by way of 'evidence' and Kurt's expression went speculative. Now _that_ made some interesting food for thought...though Tabby was obviously on the list he wasn't entirely sure who else - if anyone - Rogue might have in mind.

Amazingly enough, he did manage to keep up his end of the conversation, even with that extremely distracting information to dwell on. His full attention was back on the matter at hand, though, with Mariko and Rogue's next comments.

**"Right," Mariko replied, dragging the word out, "because you know, after what you just said, that doesn't make you sound like a perv at all."**

"I'm a seventeen year old boy, it's a definitional thing," he shot back with a grin, completely unfazed. "We're all pervs, I'm just a nice one - ask her," and he jerked a thumb up at Rogue, still smiling...and still not dwelling on the fact that she was now running one finger along the hollows of his abs in a particularly maddening way. Because that was a degree of pervyness he simply didn't need to publicly advertise, thanks. If she kept it up, though, he was going to end up really hoping that his baggy cargoes were baggy enough...

**"I'm sure someone will have an extra. And then you'll be saved from having to shop with Kurt."** Rogue added, and he scrunched his face and smacked her with his tail in response.

"Saved from shopping with me?" he asked indignantly, sticking his tongue out at her yet again. "Just ask Kaetzchen. I'm plenty of fun to...GAH!" his defense of his appeal as a shopping buddy ceased abruptly as Rogue suddenly changed her tactics and he almost fell off the couch as he rolled himself into a ball, choking with laughter as he tried to protect his sides from her assault. This was, obviously, war.

Still gasping and choking he squirmed like a cat, twisting in place until he could get on his knees and launch himself at her. "You're going down!" he crowed as he pushed her back on the couch cushions, grabbing a safely covered wrist in each hand and pinning them to the couch on either side of her head as he settled his weight over her hips and let his tail loose on her belly at the same time.

She should so have known better than to pick a tickle fight with him by now. The tail was just too much of an advantage and he didn't feel even remotely bad about using it.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
Rogue nodded at Mariko's comment about her transparency. That was her goal for the next year. Avoid the sun to the point where she could just be seen through. Heh, yeah right. As they moved on to talking about who exactly might enjoy seeing Mariko walk around in her skivvies, Rogue tried not to give anything away. It was tough. But Mariko moved on thankfully, and Kurt followed. **"Right," Mariko replied, dragging the word out, "because you know, after what you just said, that doesn't make you sound like a perv at all."** She was going to make a "Kurt's a pervert" joke, but Kurt spoke up first.

**"I'm a seventeen year old boy, it's a definitional thing," he shot back with a grin, completely unfazed. "We're all pervs, I'm just a nice one - ask her."**

She shrugged. As far as perverts went, Kurt was pretty cool. "He's nice enough. But still a pervert."

She let Mariko know that someone in the mansion was bound to have a bathing suit she could borrow, thus saving the girl the trouble of shopping with the elf. Of course, Kurt felt that that was his cue to smack her with his tail and make a bad attempt at defending himself. Grinning at Mariko, she decided she'd heard enough and went in for the kill.

He was an easy target, one of the most ticklish people she'd ever known. Of course, she didn't exactly go around tickling people so it was entirely possible that he was one of the least ticklish people that she knew, but she just didn't know it. Something like that. Either way, he was easy. She didn't stop tickling him until he was curled up in the fetal position, laughing like a maniac. Even then, it was only enough for him to catch his breath. Unfortunately, that's all the time he needed to get his bearings and throw himself back at her. **"You're going down!"**

Before she knew what was happening, he'd pushed her back and pinned her down, straddling her hips and attacking her stomach with his tail. That goddamned tail. She really needed to start wearing shirts that covered her stomach better. Then things like that wouldn't happen. Taking as deep a breath as she could between the spastic laughing, she rocked herself off the couch, landing on top of him on the floor and pulling her arms free.

She sat on top of him for a moment, wiping the tears and running makeup out of her eyes. Finally, she looked down at him, resting her hands on his chest. "You know, this isn't helping your anti-pervyness argument at all. And you cheat. No one likes a pervy cheater, Kurt."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**_"I'm a seventeen year old boy, it's a definitional thing. We're all pervs, I'm just a nice one - ask her."_**

"He's nice enough. But still a pervert."

Mariko nodded and gave Kurt a reassuring grin. "I guess it would be a bit too much to hope for more," she teased.

From afar, Mariko watched as the pair tussled and struggled, doing her level best to protect her popcorn. When, exactly, it had become her popcorn, she wasn't exactly sure, but it still was. More than once, she had to struggle to keep her balance as the pair's tickle fight rocked the couch.

**"You know, this isn't helping your anti-pervyness argument at all. And you cheat. No one likes a pervy cheater, Kurt."**

Mariko glanced upward, as she shrugged. "He is a nice enough pervert," she said, echoing Rogue's previous comment. Brow furrowing, she glanced at the pair on the floor. "Should I take off? Because me and the popcorn don't mind if you'd like some alone time." Gripping the bowl by the rim, she lowered it down to Kurt and Rogue. "You want some? It could be the last chance you get."

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"He's nice enough. But still a pervert."** Rogue agreed, and he smiled in response.

**Mariko nodded and gave Kurt a reassuring grin. "I guess it would be a bit too much to hope for more," she teased.**

"Definitely," he shot back. "You'd be deluding yourself otherwise." After that he sort of lost interest in the conversation as he was forced to defend himself from Rogue's vicious tickle attack. He really should have known better than to get comfortable with his bare belly right here, possibly screaming at her killer instincts to take advantage of his weakness. It didn't take him all that long to get the upper hand on her ...or tail, as the case might be, but it was a short-lived victory.

She squirmed and rocked beneath him and he caught his breath in a short gasp as his tail stilled and he decided that maybe pinning her hadn't been the best tactic in the universe. That was all the opening she needed and then he was falling sideways off the couch, grabbing for Rogue as she twisted out of his grip and landed on top of him hard enough to drive the breath out of him for a moment.

He ended lying absolutely still, one hand on her hip and the other on her shoulder as he gasped for breath. He watched, wide-eyed and blinking a bit dazedly, as she wiped tears of laughter from her face and tried with limited success not to think of exactly where she was sitting. An effort that wasn't really helped by the view up her shirt his current position afforded him.

**Finally, she looked down at him, resting her hands on his chest. "You know, this isn't helping your anti-pervyness argument at all. And you cheat. No one likes a pervy cheater, Kurt."**

Her voice snapped him back to something resembling sense and Mariko's next words brought home just how bad this had to look. He dropped his hands to the floor next to him and looked anywhere but directly up...since all he could really see that way was straight up Rogue's loose shirt to her - _oh mein Gott, not looking at it_ - black bra.

**"He is a nice enough pervert," she said, echoing Rogue's previous comment. Brow furrowing, she glanced at the pair on the floor. "Should I take off? Because me and the popcorn don't mind if you'd like some alone time." Gripping the bowl by the rim, she lowered it down to Kurt and Rogue. "You want some? It could be the last chance you get."**

Maybe Rogue hadn't noticed, though...she wasn't acting like she'd noticed. Verfluckt, this was one of those times he was amazingly grateful for how hard it was to tell he was blushing beneath all the fur.

"Um, no, you and your popcorn are good," he answered, still a bit breathless, though not necessarily from laughter now, and very still other than the hand that reached out to grab a handful of popcorn from the bowl that Mariko had offered. If he didn't move around she probably wouldn't notice, right? And if she did...Gott knew she'd absorbed enough teenage guys over the last couple of years to realize that all it took sometimes was a stiff breeze. She wouldn't get pissed off or avoid him or kill him...he hoped...

"Popcorn?" he asked Rogue with a damned good approximation of his normal carefree grin, if he did say so himself.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
Rogue laughed as Mariko echoed her earlier words, trying not to notice what she knew was right underneath her. Of course, when Mariko pointed it out, it got much harder to pretend it wasn't there. **"Should I take off? Because me and the popcorn don't mind if you'd like some alone time." Gripping the bowl by the rim, she lowered it down to Kurt and Rogue. "You want some? It could be the last chance you get."**

She leaned back, looking at Mariko upside-down and immediately regretting moving so much because now something was pressing against her and she was pretty damn sure it wasn't Kurt's tail. She wouldn't say anything. He wouldn't know she felt it. Right. It would have been funny if it weren't for the fact that she knew that sitting as she was right then was probably going to be about the closest she was ever going to get to anyone. 

Sitting up again (and once more smacking herself mentally for moving), she shook her head as Kurt responded, **"Um, no, you and your popcorn are good."** Thank God. As long as Mariko was still in the room, it was safe. Well, safe enough. She reached for the offered popcorn and took a handful, still sitting atop Kurt. When she thought about it, it probably was not so safe for Kurt. Okay, _that_ would be funny, seeing him try to cover it up like nothing happened. Somewhat cheered by that idea, she added, "Yeah, stay. We like a crowd."

What the fuck? She blinked a few times, looking down at Kurt and then quickly away. Had she actually said that aloud? It was time to blame one of the psyches. Definitely. And why was she still sitting on him? Not only on him, but on _him_. She scrambled to her feet, scooting back to her spot on the couch and glancing down at Kurt's... area. She wasn't an expert, but there was definitely something happening there. Looking away, she blushed and hoped that enough of her makeup was still firmly in place that Mariko and Kurt couldn't tell. Would it be a bad time to excuse herself to the bathroom?

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Um, no, you and your popcorn are good."**

Mariko started to smile, but the expression fell a little short. She was fairly sure that at least a teeny tiny part of Kurt really wanted some privacy with Rogue right now. Well, maybe not a 'teeny' part; it was unfair to judge without seeing. Not that she had any interest in that, of course.

**"Yeah, stay. We like a crowd."**

Mariko grinned in amusement, before pulling the popcorn back into her lap, trying to avoid thoughts about the possibilities if Kurt weren't there. Inexperienced as she was, she reckoned she could work around the no skin to skin contact situation. "You guys are making a terrible impression," she sighed melodramatically, "I'm young, impressionable, far from home and chaste and innocent. Whatever will I think?" She grinned, before helping herself to another handful of popcorn and sliding off the arm of the couch to lie along it and claim it for herself.

**Kurt**  
—  
Oh Gott, this would be so much easier if Rogue would stop moving around like that.

**"Yeah, stay. We like a crowd." **

Okay, that didn't help so much either. But she probably wouldn't say stuff like that if she'd noticed, right? Right. Definitely. It was all good, he decided as she scrambled to her feet and headed for the corner of the couch. Yup, there was the old 'oh my God I'm close to someone!' paranoia kicking in, right on schedule. 

And things on his side were settling down enough that he didn't have to spazz too much about pulling his knees up, which was cool. All was right with the world again, since Mariko was grinning and everything, and not leaving or acting grossed out. Talk about dodging a bullet, and he grinned for no particular reason other than, hell, no harm done and it had been pretty fun there for a bit. Rogue had totally lightened up and had some fun, so no harm no foul just because his hormones had gone and kicked in.

**"You guys are making a terrible impression,"** Mariko announced with a melodramatic sigh and his grin just got wider as he decided it was safe to get to his feet now. Yay baggy pants! **"I'm young, impressionable, far from home and chaste and innocent. Whatever will I think?" She grinned, before helping herself to another handful of popcorn and sliding off the arm of the couch to lie along it and claim it for herself.**

"That it's a bad idea to tickle attack the dude with the tail?" he asked with a grin, reaching down to grab another handful of popcorn as he flopped down on the couch between Mariko's feet and where Rogue was perched in her corner. "And you totally don't get to do the 'Oh mah Gawd, don't touch me!' thing," he added, leaning over to bump her shoulder with his and smile cheekily at her. "Because look at all that touching," and, yeah, his face heated a bit more at that, but they couldn't tell so it was all good, "and not a single soul sucked dry."

Yup, bullet dodged yet again...Jesus, sometimes the whole being a teenage male thing sucked, though.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
She shot Kurt an apologetic look, half hoping that he didn't catch it. She'd have sat there all day if it wasn't for the fact that it was driving her mentally insane, just knowing right where she was. Still, she hated to leave him with no cover. Especially since it was her fault in the first place. Sort of. Maybe. She couldn't really back that one up, but from what she remembered of the last time she absorbed him, it was a distinct possibility. **"You guys are making a terrible impression," she sighed melodramatically, "I'm young, impressionable, far from home and chaste and innocent. Whatever will I think?"**

She looked over at Mariko, forcing a smile and sitting back on her end of the couch rather uncomfortably. Using the arm of the couch, she tried to get herself into a position that wouldn't be so... no, it just wasn't happening. Well, she learned her lesson. **"That it's a bad idea to tickle attack the dude with the tail?"**

She fidgeted some more, finally giving up and covering her lap with a pillow. Not that there was anything to see there, but it was more of a security blanket kind of thing. Her mind was officially in places that it shouldn't have been, and Kurt bringing up his tail didn't help at all. She really needed to excuse herself from the room. Of course, that would probably make Kurt think that she was mad at him or scared of him or... something. And that simply wouldn't do. She dug around for the glove she'd taken off before, pulling it on and crossing her arms as Kurt plopped his fuzzy ass (which she was **not** going to think about) down next to her.

**"And you totally don't get to do the 'Oh mah Gawd, don't touch me!' thing. Because look at all that touching, and not a single soul sucked dry."** She took a deep breath. Talking about touching and sucking was probably not the best idea. He'd moved on, though. Good. She could move on too.

Smacking him on the back of his head, she nodded to herself. Moving on. "Next time, it's to the death, Fuzzy." 

Death, naked wrestling... really, it was all the same. No, not naked wrestling. Moving on.


	9. Chapter 9

**Authors' Note **– for anyone who's enjoying this fic we just thought we'd let you know that the next 'episode', for lack of a better term, is being posted exclusively at as it's just too far beyond ffn's ratings to be at all appropriate here. If you're interested it's called Take Me Out Tonight and you can find it at http://xmen. Thanks to everyone who's reading, but it would be really great if you could review and let us know what you love/hate about the story.

_thegambit23_ – Thanks for the review and to answer your question no, Rogue and Kurt aren't actually related in any 'verse. In both Evolution and 616 Rogue was adopted by Mystique long after she abandoned Kurt and they never met each other until much later in life and without having any idea that there was any connection between them. In Evo they knew each other for quite a while before they discovered that they shared a common parent in Mystique but it still doesn't make them actually related. And for the record (this is one of my huge pet peeves) Kurt/Amanda in 616 (the comicverse) is amazingly squicky because even though they're not related by blood they were actually raised from Kurt's infancy as siblings. That's just nasty.

_Evilerk_ – thanks much for the review and glad that you're finding the story interesting!

**Mariko**  
—  
**"That it's a bad idea to tickle attack the dude with the tail?"**

"Important lesson," Mariko replied with a feigned sigh of relief, "because ever since I got here, there's just been one thing that I've wanted to do," she teased, taking a handful of popcorn and flicking a kernel at Kurt's forehead.

**"Next time, it's to the death, Fuzzy."**

Planting the bowl of popcorn down on the floor, but still within easy reach, Mariko sighed melodramatically. "I saw a man tickled to death once," she proclaimed in a sombre tone, "it wasn't a pretty sight." With a shrug, she helped herself to a handful of popcorn, before retrieving the discarded remote. "You mind?" she asked before flicking channels, "if he's going to make me watch this all the way through, I probably don't want to see the ending now." The TV in her room had had a very limited selection of channels and most of those had been pay per view and of a rather 'specialist' nature. Here, however, were hundreds of completely unfamiliar shows.

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"Important lesson," Mariko replied with a feigned sigh of relief, "because ever since I got here, there's just been one thing that I've wanted to do," she teased, taking a handful of popcorn and flicking a kernel at Kurt's forehead.**

"Of course you have," he shot back, squinting slightly as the popcorn bounced off his forehead. "Chicks dig the fuzzy dude," he added with a wink and a slight exaggeration of his accent. Mariko wouldn't get it, but Rogue probably would.

Mariko's comment was a more than welcome distraction from the way Rogue was fidgeting on the couch next to him, considering his imagination wanted to wander off into remembering how...interesting...she'd felt fidgeting on the couch under him just a couple of minutes ago, and that definitely wasn't anywhere he needed to go. Especially since now she was just squirming around trying to create personal space...which he had no intention of giving her, all things considered. She'd loosened up for a bit, dammit, he wasn't about to get all awkward just because he'd gotten a bit...too involved there for a minute or two...and let her go all paranoid about it now.

"And you totally don't get to do the 'Oh mah Gawd, don't touch me!' thing. Because look at all that touching, and not a single soul sucked dry," he reminded her with a _totally_ casual shoulder bump. Of course, it earned him the expected smack upside the head and accompanying death threat, but that worked. It meant she was probably getting over the initial neurotic 'oh God I could have _killed_ him paranoia.

"Next time, it's to the death, Fuzzy."

"Yeah, yours," he shot back with a grin. "Because next time I pin you you're not getting up until I let you up, and that won't be until the tail's reduced you to a puddle," he added, waving said appendage menacingly between them...right before deciding that that really hadn't been imagery he'd needed, but it was too late now and he drew his knees up a bit for cover. He managed to keep the cheeky grin in place, but at the sound of yet another melodramatic sigh from Mariko he turned back to her, grateful for the distraction yet again.

**"I saw a man tickled to death once," she proclaimed in a sombre tone, "it wasn't a pretty sight."**

"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't," he assured her with a shudder of mock-horror. "I imagine there was lots of screaming and begging for mercy." And it was time to move on...from tickling, pinning, screaming...yep. Definitely moving on.

**"You mind?"** Mariko asked, grabbing the remote and beginning to surf through the Gott only knew how many channels this place got at his nod. **"if he's going to make me watch this all the way through, I probably don't want to see the ending now." **

"No, don't want to ruin the ending," he agreed, "and with fifty-bazillion channels available for your viewing enjoyment there's gotta be something that's not a soap, a game show or professional wrestling on one of them, right?"

"So," he settled back a bit more comfortably, letting his tail reach out to snag the HoHos from the table top as he did so. "Where are you from originally?" he asked conversationally. It was, after all, the next part of the obligatory getting to know you routine, since they'd already gotten her and Rogue's powers out of the way and it was generally accepted as poor manners to ask _why_ someone was here, since the answer wasn't necessarily anything they'd want to talk about.

"HoHo?" he added, offering the box to both of them after popping it open and grabbing one of the little plastic-wrapped snack cakes for himself.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Yeah, yours," he shot back with a grin. "Because next time I pin you you're not getting up until I let you up, and that won't be until the tail's reduced you to a puddle."** Oh, God. Did they have to talk about pooling liquids? Really, the last thing she needed to be thinking about was that tail of his doing things that would end up making her w... not going there. 

**"I saw a man tickled to death once, it wasn't a pretty sight."** She looked over at Mariko, somewhat amused and not entirely sure if the other girl was joking. She knew nothing about... wherever Mariko was from. Maybe ritualistic tickle-deaths were an important part of the culture. So instead of replying, she settled for an interested eyebrow raise and a sip of her drink.

**"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't. I imagine there was lots of screaming and begging for mercy."**

Damned drink. She coughed, trying to keep her soda from jumping around again as it had earlier. As she got the beverage under control and swallowed, Mariko started flipping through the channels, asking if they minded. She shook her head, still trying to keep the bubbles from creeping up her nose. Okay. Under control. Did he say wrestling? They were _not_ going to watch wrestling.

**"So," he settled back a bit more comfortably, letting his tail reach out to snag the HoHos from the table top as he did so. "Where are you from originally?"** She tilted her head toward Mariko a bit. Good question. Back to getting to know you and off of getting to _know_ you. **"HoHo?"**

She scowled at Kurt, looking at Mariko and then back at Kurt as if he'd meant the question as an insult to them. "That was rude and inappropriate. Chauvinist pig." Reaching into the box and pulling out one of the snacks, she rolled her eyes. "Sorry. Jean moment. Tune in next time, I'll burn my bra."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"I imagine there was lots of screaming and begging for mercy."**

"Yeah, something like that," Mariko said with a nod. "Screaming and begging for mercy." She paused to take a handful of popcorn. "You couldn't really hear it over the giggling though."

**"So. Where are you from originally? "HoHo?"**

**"That was rude and inappropriate. Chauvinist pig. Sorry. Jean moment. Tune in next time, I'll burn my bra."**

Mariko simply frowned. Rogue was a complicated, complicated person. Turning her frown towards the box of Ho Hos, she took one out, before carefully unwrapping it and taking a bite from one end. That was good. On top of the popcorn, it was a little nauseating, but she stilled her stomach with the promise of real food to come. Realizing that she'd been asked a question, she raised a fist to her lips as she forced herself to swallow the mouthful of Ho Ho. "Originally? Japan," she said, before grimacing. "Sorry, was that horribly patronizing?" she asked, genuinely apologetic, "if you meant more specifically, Tokyo. How about you guys?" She paused and grinned, "or am I supposed to just sit still and be a good new kid and answer your questions?"

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"That was rude and inappropriate. Chauvinist pig."** Rogue accused him with a scowl and he rolled he snorted at her, eyes rolling in mock-exasperation. 

"No, you just have a filthy mind," he shot back as she reached into the box and grabbed a HoHo.

**"Sorry. Jean moment. Tune in next time, I'll burn my bra."**

"See? Bra burning," he added with a grin. "I rest my case." And no, he was not thinking about her bra. At all. Black against pale skin...so not going there. So not swallowing a bit too hard.

Hmmm...didn't look like the HoHo had really agreed with Mariko, Kurt noted sadly as he popped his own into his mouth whole.. Shame that, there was nothing quite like a HoHo and its creamy filling.

**"Originally? Japan," she said** once she finally managed to choke down her HoHo. **"Sorry, was that horribly patronizing?" she asked, genuinely apologetic, "if you meant more specifically, Tokyo. How about you guys?" She paused and grinned, "or am I supposed to just sit still and be a good new kid and answer your questions?"**

"Nein, not patronizing at all," he answered, because yes, she was obviously from some Asian country, but he couldn't tell the different accents anymore than she could probably tell if he was German, Dutch, Swiss or Gott knew what else...except, go figure, she had now that he thought about it. Oh well, he officially sucked, but he could live with that. It was just one more thing to add to the list.

"You guessed me right earlier," he answered with a grin. "Transplanted from Germany a couple of years ago. But meine Schwester is home grown," he added, trying valiantly to think of her in those terms as he poked her with his tail before reaching for another HoHo.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"No, you just have a filthy mind."** She most certainly did not. Okay, maybe a little. Fine. Definitely. But that was beside the point. **"See? Bra burning," he added with a grin. "I rest my case."**

She rolled her eyes. "Like you wouldn't pay good money to watch me do that."

... That wasn't helping with the whole ho thing, was it? She frowned, pulling off her gloves so that she could peel back the layers of cake from the HoHo without getting frosting everywhere. It was a weird habit, and one that wasn't really the best for someone who wore gloves 90 of the time. But that's just how things worked. **"Originally? Japan. Sorry, was that horribly patronizing?"** She shook her head as she licked some of the frosting from her fingers. A futile action, as soon there'd just be more there. **"if you meant more specifically, Tokyo. How about you guys? or am I supposed to just sit still and be a good new kid and answer your questions?"**

**"Nein, not patronizing at all."**

Collecting some more frosting on her fingertip, she shrugged. "I felt a little patronized." Chuckling, she concentrated on the HoHo again as Kurt answered her question.

**"You guessed me right earlier," he answered with a grin. "Transplanted from Germany a couple of years ago. But meine Schwester is home grown,"**

Finishing the HoHo and licking each finger clean, she nodded. "Middle of nowhere, Mississippi."

Did they teach American geography in Japan? Ah, well. If Mariko was confused, that was okay. It didn't really matter anyway. Not like she actually had any kind of emotional connection to that place. Glancing up at Mariko again, she started on another HoHo. "And I'm not his sister."

Because if she was his sister, then what she'd been thinking earlier was very, very wrong.

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
As Kurt popped his Ho Ho into his mouth whole, Mariko shot a dubious glance at her own, before grimacing at her Kurt. "It's good," she conceded, "I've just had a severe lack of the kind of foods that contain actual nutrients lately. Apparently, as it turns out, there is such a thing as too much sugar." 

**"Middle of nowhere, Mississippi."**

"Which is down-south and swampy?" Mariko asked with an uncertain frown. American geography was far from her specialty. All she really knew about it was what she'd picked up watching a few American TV shows. With that thought, she realized that she hadn't even been paying attention to the channels she'd been flicking past and she came to an abrupt halt on a documentary about what looked like some kind of lemur.

**"And I'm not his sister."**

Mariko nodded her agreement, before frowning, "I really can't think of a word for what you are though." There probably wasn't one; it was hardly a common situation. "Wait! I have the word!" she exclaimed, pretending to gush, "BFF!" she teased, with a grin. Such a horrible phrase.

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
He smirked at her as she rolled her eyes in response to his bra burning crack. **"Like you wouldn't pay good money to watch me do that."**

Oh lieber Gott, so not going there. He just stuffed his HoHo in his mouth by way of avoiding answering and moved on, shifting his attention to Mariko's answer to his question instead of any further thoughts of Rogue...and bras...or her lack thereof…and there went his mind, right in the gutter again.

**"I felt a little patronized."** Rogue contributed with a chuckle and he stuck his tongue out at her before continuing.

**"Middle of nowhere, Mississippi." **Rogue elaborated and Kurt grinned at her briefly before deciding maybe looking elsewhere as she licked the last of the HoHo's cream filling from her fingers might be a good plan.

**"Which is down-south and swampy?" Mariko asked with an uncertain frown.**

"Yup!" he agreed cheerily. "All hot and damp and swampy and full of unsavory creatures." Which it had been, in his very limited experience, so he didn't feel bad at all about making such a sweeping generalization - because the Cajun had to be about as unsavory as they came, in his opinion. Well, with the possible exception of his esteemed parent and her sometimes boss, anyway.

**"And I'm not his sister."** Rogue added, somewhat belatedly and kind of out of the blue.

"I feel so...rejected!" He looked mournfully between the two girls and sighed melodramatically. "Disowned again." He shook his head sadly as his tail snaked out and grabbed yet another HoHo from the box and discarded its wrapper. "Guess I'll have to console myself with more chocolate," he added.

**Mariko nodded her agreement** and he shot her a mock-glare before stuffing his third HoHo in his mouth whole.

**"I really can't think of a word for what you are though."** He couldn't stick his tongue out at that - and he might possibly have been doing more of that in the last hour than he had since he was seven - because he was still chewing, but he flicked his tail at her as the next best thing.

**"Wait! I have the word!" she exclaimed, pretending to gush, "BFF!" she teased, with a grin** and he nearly choked on his HoHo in an effort not to laugh.

"Why," he asked a bit hoarsely, after managing to swallow the last of his HoHo with some difficulty, "do I feel like that should involve the exchange of little lockets and embroidered pink pillows and probably sleepovers? _Lots_ of sleepovers and giggling and talking about boys' asses," he added, his tail twitching as he snickered at the thought - because he definitely wasn't doing anything so unmanly as giggling...really.

"Oh! And painting each others' nails, too! Can't forget that, it's key!" he finished, holding out his hands to examine his thick, blunt, not quite claws speculatively. "I'm thinking red, what do you think?"

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Which is down-south and swampy?"** Rogue tilted her head to the side. The whole state wasn't swampy... **"Yup!"** Okay, so it was sort of swampy in Caldecott. Fine, the yacht club was literally on a swamp. And didn't actually have any yachts. Couple of pontoon boats and some old rowboats fitted with rusty outboard motors... and a refrigerator that someone'd dumped into the swampy river. **"All hot and damp and swampy and full of unsavory creatures."**

She rolled her eyes. Why did she have a feeling she knew exactly who Kurt was thinking about there? "Louisiana, Kurt. Pepe is from Louisiana, not Mississippi. There's a difference." She tossed the wrapper of the HoHo she'd finished at him, reaching for another and voicing a sudden addition to the earlier conversation. "And I'm not his sister."

**"I feel so...rejected!"** He _looked_ rejected. She grinned. Nope, not her brother. **"Disowned again."** Raising an eyebrow at her not-brother, she frowned a bit. "Think you'd be used to it by now..."

Looked like he was over it, though. Or at least his tail was. Not going to think about the incredibly dexterous tail. **"Guess I'll have to console myself with more chocolate."** That sounded like a good idea. She worked on her HoHo, peeling the layers back and licking the cream from the inside. Really. Only acceptable way to eat a HoHo. **"I really can't think of a word for what you are though."** Mariko was on her side. Score.

**"Wait! I have the word!" she exclaimed, pretending to gush, "BFF!"** She looked up from her HoHo, sardonic expression firmly in place. "Right."

Kurt seemed more interested in that than she was, though. **"Why do I feel like that should involve the exchange of little lockets and embroidered pink pillows and probably sleepovers? Lots of sleepovers and giggling and talking about boys' asses."** And now, it was her turn to choke on her HoHo. No sleepovers. No thinking about asses. No thinking about sleeping over with Kurt's ass. No. **"Oh! And painting each others' nails, too! Can't forget that, it's key!"**

Good. He didn't catch what he'd said. **"I'm thinking red, what do you think?"** She leaned over, grabbing his hand carefully with her empty one and pulling it closer, making sure to steer clear of the palm, where the hair wasn't thick enough to protect him. "No. It'd clash. Remember, that's why we went with the pink for Rocky Horror."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Louisiana, Kurt. Pepe is from Louisiana, not Mississippi. There's a difference."**

Pepe? Mariko frowned. Sure, Kurt and Rogue seemed to have known each other for a while, so it was only to be expected. All the same, she had to admit that the new kid/outsider vibe wasn't all that much fun. She only hoped that somewhere in the school, there was someone who had almost as little experience as she did.

**"Think you'd be used to it by now..."**

"Both disowned and owned," Mariko chimed in, "possibly with a 'p'," she added, emphasizing her point by poking the air. "Speaking as someone to whom English is a second language, that's actually quite confusing," she conceded with a frown. "Is it pronounced pewned?"

**"No. It'd clash. Remember, that's why we went with the pink for Rocky Horror."**

"Rocky horror?" Mariko echoed, before frowning. "No offence, but fishnets and fur? Surely that combination can't actually be as mortifyingly bad as I'm imagining it to be, can it?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Kurt**  
—  
**"Louisiana, Kurt.** **Pepe is from Louisiana, not Mississippi. There's a difference."**

"Same general vicinity," he replied airily, not quite managing to duck the wrapper she shot at him. "And besides, there's no telling what bit of swampland he might be lurking in...if we're even that lucky," he added, the last bit under his breath as she moved on to disowning him.

**"Think you'd be used to it by now..." **she shot back and he had to resist the urge to pin her and tickle her into submission...but considering the way things had just gone it was probably better not to. The idea of getting that up close and personal was entirely too appealing at the moment and there was no way in hell his luck could hold out well enough to avoid massive amounts of humiliation, awkwardness and discomfort a second time.

**"Both disowned and owned," Mariko chimed in, "possibly with a 'p'," she added, **and he crossed his arms over his chest and assumed a petulant expression as they ganged up on him. Obviously it didn't pay to be the only guy in a room, no matter how good the view was. **"Speaking as someone to whom English is a second language, that's actually quite confusing," she conceded with a frown. "Is it pronounced pewned?" **

Kurt just ignored her, other than a pout and sticking his tongue out at her yet again, like the overgrown six year old he apparently was. Mutti would have been threatening to cut it off by now...good thing she wasn't there, obviously.

And, yes, revenge! The look on Rogue's face as he took Mariko's tongue in cheek suggestion and ran with it was all the payback he needed...for the moment. Though, Gott, he wasn't really sure what insanity had prompted him to bring up sleepovers or asses and he had to come up with something else fast to distract himself from any place that train of thought was likely to lead. Fortunately nail polish seemed to do the trick, scarily enough. 

Rogue leaned over and seized one of his hands in a careful grip, pulling it in to examine it thoughtfully before offering her opinion. **"No. It'd clash. Remember, that's why we went with the pink for Rocky Horror."**

"Totally wouldn't!" he disagreed immediately. "Red and blue are great together, I just gave in because I got sick of arguing with you about it...but pink'd do, I suppose," he conceded with sigh.

**"Rocky horror?"** **Mariko echoed, before frowning. "No offence, but fishnets and fur? Surely that combination can't actually be as mortifyingly bad as I'm imagining it to be, can it?"**

"Mortifyingly bad??" he asked, giving her an indignant look. "I totally rock the Frank N. Furter look! Right _Stinktier_?" he asked, hopping to his feet and shooting Rogue a cheeky grin as he struck a pose. "It's just a shame the rest of the world misses out since I have to turn on my inducer before we leave the grounds," he added as he turned and flopped back onto the couch, his tail wrapping itself loosely around Rogue's calf as he did so.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Same general vicinity.** **And besides, there's no telling what bit of swampland he might be lurking in...if we're even that lucky." **She snorted, briefly considering defending Gambit. Sure, he'd kidnapped her, but there was a reason. He was just trying to do the right thing, and yeah, he lied. But there was still something about him. They were alike, as much as it pained her to admit it. They'd both been used by the people they thought they could trust, both had done things they didn't want to because of that trust. Of course, at the end of the day, he was still just a lying swamp rat with a bad haircut. Better not to even think about it.

She grinned as Mariko took her side, adding in the beauty that is the word, "pwn." Really, any dead conversation could be livened up with a good pwnage. **"Speaking as someone to whom English is a second language, that's actually quite confusing," she conceded with a frown. "Is it pronounced pewned?" **She chuckled, shaking her head. "Girl, English is my first language and I don't know the answer to that one."

Kurt really needed to cut that whole tongue thing out. It was both distracting and disgusting, not to mention immature. She was glad when he moved on, until she heard what exactly he'd moved on to. Sleepovers. Just the topic that would get her mind out of the gutter. Nail polish was better. Nothing dirty about that. She grabbed his hand and shook her head. Red wouldn't work, and they'd been over the reasons why before. **"Totally wouldn't! Red and blue are great together, I just gave in because I got sick of arguing with you about it..."** She nodded slowly, not believing him at all. And even if that was the case, she'd still won the argument and that's all that mattered. **"but pink'd do, I suppose."**

Winking at Mariko, she cracked an imaginary whip just before the other girl began to talk. **"Rocky horror?"** **Mariko echoed, before frowning. "No offence, but fishnets and fur? Surely that combination can't actually be as mortifyingly bad as I'm imagining it to be, can it?" **Rogue smiled again. Kurt actually looked good in the fishnets. Better than Scott, at least.

**"Mortifyingly bad??" he asked, giving her an indignant look. "I totally rock the Frank N. Furter look! Right Stinktier?"**

She nodded. "It's hot."

She briefly considered adding that sometimes she wished that he would dress up as Riff Raff just so that she'd get to act out the creepy incestuous lovin' that was obviously going on between Riff and Magenta, but decided that it was best if she didn't speak up about that. Even if she was kidding. People might get the wrong idea... or the right one. Either way, it wouldn't end well. **"It's just a shame the rest of the world misses out since I have to turn on my inducer before we leave the grounds."** She nodded in agreement, her leg tensing up as his tail wrapped around it. It wasn't wrapping tight, but it was there. A nice little reminder. Her calf muscle relaxed a bit, actually enjoying the slight pressure. Wait, no. _Think about something else..._ Image inducer. Did Mariko know what that was? That was a safe subject. Yes. Image inducer.

Looking back at Mariko, she gestured toward Kurt. "He's got an image inducer. It's on his watch. When you press the button," she leaned over him, reaching for his wrist and poking at the inducer, not bothering to straighten herself up and back into a seated position until the hologram appeared. "it projects an image around him. Makes it easier to go out in public, to school, buy beer without getting carded... that kind of thing." Leaning over him again, she shut the inducer off. "We like our Kurt blue, though. And he still wears the costume, just like everyone else. Corset and everything."

Finishing off her HoHo, she nodded. "You should come sometime. It's fun.

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Girl, English is my first language and I don't know the answer to that one."**

Mariko smiled, evidently relieved. Rogue not knowing either was definitely reassuring. She'd always thought that she had a good grasp of slang in English and not just formal language.

**"It's just a shame the rest of the world misses out since I have to turn on my inducer before we leave the grounds,"**

Inducer? Mariko frowned and was about to ask what that was, when Rogue decided to help out.

**"He's got an image inducer. It's on his watch. When you press the button,"**

Mariko recoiled ever so slightly, with a faint, almost Keanu-esque "Whoa!" Fuzzy blue guys were shocking, sure enough. Fuzzy blue guys who turned into regular guys were a whole other level of shocking. Then again, what wasn't shocking these days? She was sure that soon enough, she would be completely and irreversibly jaded to everything ever.

**"it projects an image around him. Makes it easier to go out in public, to school, buy beer without getting carded... that kind of thing."**

As the normal (?) Kurt returned, Mariko was about to add sneaking into girl's locker rooms to the things he used his inducer for. She stopped short, though. Sure, it was a good dig, but if he hadn't thought of it yet, she didn't want to go giving him any ideas.

**"We like our Kurt blue, though. And he still wears the costume, just like everyone else. Corset and everything."**

"Wait!" Mariko said, holding up a hand. She'd been thinking about it and she still didn't get it. "If he has the inducer, why does he dress up? Surely the effect would be the same if you just wore normal clothes?"

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
Kurt shot Rogue a mock-glare as she winked at Mariko and did that whole whip-crack routine. So he was a bit of a pushover...okay, a lot of a pushover...okay, totally whipped when it came to her or Kitty or, well yeah, pretty much any of the girls wheedling him into stuff. Didn't mean she had to advertise it, did it? Mariko'd probably figure it out soon enough on her own though, Gott sei danke, Jubes and Amara didn't seem to have _quite_ worked it out yet. Still, why speed up the process of adding one more person to the ever-expanding list of 'people who can sucker Kurt into almost anything.'

At least she salved his - only somewhat - battered ego by admitting his undeniable hotness in the fishnets, garters and corset and he smiled triumphantly at Mariko before bemoaning the loss to the world of his sexy, be-fishnetted blueness since he had to use the image inducer off the grounds. Not that there was enough money in the world to make him leave the grounds blue and fuzzy for anything other than X-Men stuff. He'd done the whole 'oh my God, kill the demon!' routine, thanks, no need for an encore.

He was just making himself comfy on the couch...and thinking that maybe he could put his shirt back on given that the brushing portion of the program seemed to be well and truly over...when Rogue started in on his inducer. Which was, admittedly, a good thing to explain to the newbie before she tried to make friends with the normal looking German kid next time she ran into him or something.

**"He's got an image inducer. It's on his watch. When you press the button," she leaned over him, reaching for his wrist and poking at the inducer,** and her rolled his eyes, no longer a wasted effort since the inducer gave him pupils and irises and the whole shebang, and waved jauntily at an obviously shocked Mariko while trying not to think about Rogue half in his lap while she used him as a prop for her little demonstration.

**"It projects an image around him. Makes it easier to go out in public, to school, buy beer without getting carded... that kind of thing."** A couple more seconds of not noticing her draped over him as she leaned over to poke it off and he could breathe freely again. **"We like our Kurt blue, though. And he still wears the costume, just like everyone else. Corset and everything."**

"Of course you do, who wouldn't?" He grinned impudently between the pair and nodded at Rogue's invitation to Mariko. "Crazy Americans and their cult movies. Weird costumes, throwing stuff at the screen. It's phantastiche."

**"Wait!" Mariko said, holding up a hand. "If he has the inducer, why does he dress up? Surely the effect would be the same if you just wore normal clothes?"**

Okay, that was a bit off. She could have asked him since he was sitting right there between her and Rogue, but still... "It makes me feel pretty," he shot at her with a grin and a wink before laughing quietly and continuing a _bit _more seriously. 

"Besides, how fair would that be? And it's half the fun anyway. Most of the time when I leave the grounds I'm stuck in neck to ankle spandex to make sure no one accidentally brushes fur," he added with a grimace.

Gott, he despised spandex with a passion. Rucked up his fur heinously. It was one of the few parts of performing he _hadn't_ expected to miss when he walked away from Der Jahrmarkt. Little had he known….

"But there are never enough people at the midnight showings for that to be a problem, so why not go for the gold?" he added with a fang-baring grin.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Of course you do, who wouldn't?" **She rolled her eyes, briefly considering citing the fucktards on the internet, but in the end decided that that wasn't the best idea. Instead, she finished her HoHo and invited Mariko to join them sometime. **"Crazy Americans and their cult movies. Weird costumes, throwing stuff at the screen. It's phantastiche."**

Poking him on the shoulder, she corrected his statement, "Actually, Richard O'Brien is British. So it's their cult movie."

She began to make a face at Kurt, but was interrupted by a loud **"Wait!"** Pausing mid-face, she turned to look at Mariko. **"If he has the inducer, why does he dress up? Surely the effect would be the same if you just wore normal clothes?"**

She frowned. That wasn't very in the spirit of Rocky Horror. Scott had to go in his underwear, and Kurt had jumped all over being Frank. No way any of them were going to let him get away with just wearing the inducer. **"It makes me feel pretty."** And there was that. She wasn't about to point out just how much Kurt seemed to enjoy being a Transvestite. No, that was a topic better suited for some other time. Like when she was angry with him.

**"Besides, how fair would that be? And it's half the fun anyway. Most of the time when I leave the grounds I'm stuck in neck to ankle spandex to make sure no one accidentally brushes fur."** She leaned back against the couch, listening to him complain about the spandex thing. At least he didn't have to cover up inside the mansion, too. In fact, he could walk around the place naked if he really wanted to. That might be interesting to see, but still. She wasn't interested in hearing him bitch and moan about being covered. She was doing enough of that in her own head for the both of them. **"But there are never enough people at the midnight showings for that to be a problem, so why not go for the gold?"**

She straightened up, glad that he was back to being... not whiny. "Besides, a lot of the folks who _are_ at the showing don't exactly keep the best personal hygiene. People pretty much stick to their own groups."

She reached for the popcorn, amending her statement. "Unless someone runs out of rice or confetti or toast..."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"It makes me feel pretty,"**

Mariko raised a hand to her mouth as she laughed, before bracing herself for more HoHo. She was fairly sure her stomach had settled enough for her to risk it. And the things really were good. With a shrug, she took a tiny, experimental bite.

**"But there are never enough people at the midnight showings for that to be a problem, so why not go for the gold?"**

"Why not?" Mariko agreed, even though her expression betrayed the fact that she wasn't entirely sure what it was that she was agreeing with.

**"Besides, a lot of the folks who are at the showing don't exactly keep the best personal hygiene. People pretty much stick to their own groups."**

People with lax personal hygiene in fishnets? Somehow, Mariko was struggling to see just how this was supposed to be a good thing. Or that people would be paid to be subjected to, let alone pay for. She was about to ask when Rogue started talking again.

**"Unless someone runs out of rice or confetti or toast..."**

"Okay, I'm lost," Mariko admitted as she raised a hand in the air, "once we got past fur and fishnets, that was pretty much the extent of my Rocky Horror knowledge."

**Kurt**  
—  
**"Besides, a lot of the folks who are at the showing don't exactly keep the best personal hygiene. People pretty much stick to their own groups." **

Well, there was that, too. Talk about incentive to keep your distance from some of the drugged up, sauced up, scary-ass folks who showed up for the midnight screenings. One of the few times someone actually had staggered through the barrier of bodies to touch him...and unfortunately he meant that in an entirely more personal way than he would have cared for...dude had fortunately been entirely too trashed to even realize that the ass he squeezed had a tail growing out of it. Unfortunately the dude had been so rank Kurt was sure he could smell him all the way home. Gott sei danke for scalding hot showers.

**"Unless someone runs out of rice or confetti or toast..." **Rogue amended, grabbing some more popcorn and Kurt nodded in agreement. Had to be prepared to be accosted if someone ran out of props, but that was why they stuck the 'safe' people on the ends of their row of seats. Still no guarantee someone wouldn't lean over the back of his or Rogue's seat looking for extras, but they'd done all right so far.

**"Okay, I'm lost," Mariko admitted as she raised a hand in the air,** and Kurt shook his head in sympathy. He remembered that feeling. Being the new kid was bad enough at times, being the new foreign kid with the wrong frame of reference could be a royal pain in the ass...and he'd only had Scott and Jean to contend with when he'd gone through it. **"once we got past fur and fishnets, that was pretty much the extent of my Rocky Horror knowledge."**

"Well, isn't that really what's most important anyway?" he asked, winking cheekily at her as he reached for the remains of the six-pack of Barq's on the table, popping one out of its flimsy plastic collar and holding it out to Mariko in offer. Needed something to wash down all the salt and chocolate, and you _had_ to love just about the only root beer with caffeine in it, after all. "The rest is just irrelevant extras, really, right?"

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Okay, I'm lost."** She looked up from the popcorn bowl, frowning. All of the popcorn was gone, save for a few half-popped kernels. How could she be lost? They had rice in Japan, didn't they? **"once we got past fur and fishnets, that was pretty much the extent of my Rocky Horror knowledge."** Ah. That explained it.

**"Well, isn't that really what's most important anyway?"** She considered that point, finally deciding that yes, fur and fishnets were both very important. Nodding, she sat the bowl down on the table. Nothing much to add there. If Mariko really was curious, she'd tag along and find out firsthand about the audience partici...pation. **"The rest is just irrelevant extras, really, right?"**

She nodded again. "And kinda hard to explain without being there." She pulled her gloves back on, having finished the HoHos and licked the frosting off of her hands. Glancing down, she noticed that Kurt's tail was still coiled around her leg, the tip twitching slightly. Looking pointedly away and once again _not_ thinking about what he was probably able to do with it, she cleared her throat. "Fuzzy? Is your tail trying to mate with my leg?"

* * *

**Mariko**

—  
**"The rest is just irrelevant extras, really, right?"**

Mariko replied with a simple shrug of her shoulders. She didn't know. She'd already covered that.

**"And kinda hard to explain without being there."**

Mariko nodded. She was getting a sense of that. It seemed probable that there were a whole lot of moments like that coming up. Being the new kid was no fun at all. 

**"Fuzzy? Is your tail trying to mate with my leg?"**

Eyes widening, Mariko glanced furtively at Rogue's leg. That was a kind of freaky that she wasn't sure she wanted to deal with right now. Or ever. Thoughtfully, she popped the last of her Ho Ho into her mouth, chewing and swallowing, before brushing her hands together. "You know, you guys can still ask me to leave if you want?"

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"And kinda hard to explain without being there."**

"That too," he agreed with a nod, cocking his head slightly and smiling reassuringly over at Mariko as he caught her shrug. Totally sucked to be not just the new kid, but the foreign kid sometimes. "Strange movie, stranger people doing even stranger things in the middle of the night. It's really one of those things you have to experience for yourself. You should totally come along next time for the, um, cultural experience!" he concluded with a grin...that faded slightly as Rogue cleared her throat meaningfully and he glanced back her way.

**"Fuzzy? Is your tail trying to mate with my leg?"** And now the smile, though still fixed firmly in place, was decidedly rueful as he blinked slowly and then looked down at the culprit. His tail, which had been twitching very slightly at the tip, stilled and he shook his head with an exasperated sigh.

"Mmm, if it is then it definitely needs The Talk, because I'm not really seeing that as working so well," he shot back at her teasingly before turning his attention back to the offending appendage. "Böser Schwanz!" he muttered sternly as though he were scolding a child or a puppy while it unwound itself quite expeditiously from Rogue's leg. More like lucky tail, really, but that wasn't something that needed to be said, obviously, and he swatted teasingly at the twitching spade as he coiled its length demurely in his lap.

"Das tut mir leid," he added, looking up through a fall of disheveled bangs to smile innocently up at Rogue. Because she couldn't smack a harmless and endearing fuzzy elf...could she? Not hard, anyway. 

**"You know, you guys can still ask me to leave if you want?"** Mariko offered again and he looked back at her with a headshake, turning almost instantly from angel to cheeky little devil as he grinned at her.

"Verdammt thing has a mind of its own," he informed her with a soft laugh. "And it was just being friendly," he added with a wink.

And it actually was true, to a certain extent. Sure, he could make it do pretty much anything he wanted but when he was paying it no conscious attention, which was most of the time, his tail had a tendency to do...whatever, really. Mostly it just twitched around in annoying ways that the more observant had figured out how to use to gauge his mood, but if there was something available - table or chair leg, post, balusters...legs - it tended simply to wrap itself around them. Which could, admittedly, be a problem should the owner of said leg not appreciate the attention.

böser Schwanz - bad tail, das tut mir leid - sorry


	11. Chapter 11

In case anyone had any doubts? sucks. I've been trying to post this chapter off and on since about midnight Saturday but it just finally decided to take it.

GabbyKat13 - glad you're enjoying it and thanks for letting us know.

Evilerk - cool that you hunted down Evolution Unbound, though we're curious what 'your pairing' is that we supposedly don't like there? Don't think anyone really has anything for or against any pairing, really, though Kurt/Rogue takes a lot of flack (joking...mostly) for being 'incest'. ;)

Anyway, anyone else out there who's enjoying this, we'd love to hear from you. Only two more chapters to go now.

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Strange movie, stranger people doing even stranger things in the middle of the night.** She paused in her glove re-arranging and raised an eyebrow at him, noticing that even as he talked about Rocky Horror and things that happened in the middle of the night, his tail was coiled around her leg, twitching. **It's really one of those things you have to experience for yourself. You should totally come along next time for the, um, cultural experience!"** He really was oblivious to what it was doing, wasn't he? Clearing her throat, she brought attention to the prehensile groping.

**"Mmm, if it is then it definitely needs The Talk, because I'm not really seeing that as working so well."** No, because it couldn't have been on purpose. She watched, eyebrow raised, as he yelled at his tail and apologized through his hair. Which, now that she thought about it, was really far too long for anyone's good.

**"You know, you guys can still ask me to leave if you want?"** She turned back to Mariko, rolling her eyes. Yeah, that would communicate exactly how she felt about the subject. Or at least how she wanted to appear to feel about it.

**  
"Verdammt thing has a mind of its own," he informed her with a soft laugh. "And it was just being friendly."** Aaaand things were about to get awkward. There wasn't much that you could do to recover from the weirdness of a good friend feeling up your leg with his tail. Maybe changing the subject.

She looked at Kurt, trying to think of something to say. Preferably something that didn't involve nudity and things that weren't safe for prime-time television. "You need a haircut."

Nagging about shit was always a good way to get people to move on. And really, it was true. "You're about two inches away from a mullet there." Nodding, she reached for the nearest can of root beer, not really caring whose it was. She was thirsty. "Seriously. I bet Kitty'll do it cheap."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Strange movie, stranger people doing even stranger things in the middle of the night. It's really one of those things you have to experience for yourself. You should totally come along next time for the, um, cultural experience!"**

Smiling, Mariko gave a slight tilt of her head in acquiescence. "When in Rome, right?" Although maybe that didn't work if the film was English like Rogue had thought. It was close enough.

**"Verdammt thing has a mind of its own. And it was just being friendly."**

Frowning, Mariko gave a slow, uncertain nod. "Maybe it's just different here, but back home, humping someone's leg is considered a little more than friendly," she teased. "And when I say more than friendly, I mean grossly inappropriate." With a shrug of her shoulders, she turned back to flicking channels.

**"You need a haircut."**

With a frown, Mariko turned to glance at Rogue. That was kind of random, or at the very least, it came from right out of the blue. Shrugging her shoulders yet again, she turned her attention back to the TV, wishing that she could remember where any of the shows that had looked interesting had been.

**"You're about two inches away from a mullet there."**

Now that sounded like a threat for certain. No one wanted to end up stuck with a mullet, not in this decade.

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
And there was no whapping going on as he made his apologies and collected his errant tail into his lap, where it hopefully couldn't get into any more trouble. And as the lack of whappage was a decidedly good thing he moved on to cheerfully explain his tail's wayward tendencies to Mariko, who didn't quite seem to grasp the trials of having an extra, prehensile appendage judging by her response. 

**"Maybe it's just different here, but back home, humping someone's leg is considered a little more than friendly," she teased.** Kurt's eyes widened and mouth opened to protest at her choice of words...while definitely _not_ thinking about the imagery that went along with them...but was forestalled as she continued. **"And when I say more than friendly, I mean grossly inappropriate."**

"Pfft! That's like calling an arm across someone's shoulders the same as a hand down their pants," he protested without much heat, and he even managed to refrain from sticking his tongue out yet again.

**"You need a haircut."** Rogue suddenly announced out of the blue.

"Random much?" he asked, cocking his head quizzically at her...and just incidentally pushing his hair out of his eyes, which didn't at all mean he needed a haircut...really. Not a bad distraction from discussing what Mariko apparently took to be his tail's carnal interest in Rogue, though, since that wasn't really a subject that bore any further scrutiny.

**"You're about two inches away from a mullet there,"** she added, nodding, and he shot her a scandalized glare as he ran both hands through his bangs before grabbing two handfuls on top of his head and tugging lightly.

"A mullet?" he demanded. "No way! The bangs **totally** negate any mulletness!" he insisted, letting his hands fall and then blowing absently at the hair that drifted across his face. Because, yeah, mullets...so not a good fashion statement to make, no matter how fundamentally indifferent he was to his hair. Sam was a nice guy and all, but the mullet was just...wrong. Bad and wrong and, just to add insult to injury, totally synonymous with the rockhead.

**"Seriously,"** she insisted after snagging _his_ root beer from the table. **"I bet Kitty'll do it cheap."**

"Cheap? Cheap is insulting a guy's hair and then stealing his drink," he shot back, and this time he did stick his tongue out again, because the situation so demanded the most childish response he could muster. "It's not **that** bad. Is it?" he asked, almost plaintively, as he rolled his eyes up as though he could actually see his own hair.

It wasn't like he really had any emotional attachment to the style or anything. It was just that, well, it was pretty much the only way he'd ever had his hair. He'd never actually given it any thought beyond the fact that the long bangs were handy for concealing his eyes, at least partially. When it got too long he took a pair of shears to it and otherwise just ignored it.

Okay...so maybe it was time to consider a change. But it so wasn't anywhere near a mullet!

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Maybe it's just different here, but back home, humping someone's leg is considered a little more than friendly."** Did she really have to use that phrasing? Humping, be it one's leg or... anything else was not what Rogue wanted the conversation to go back to. 

**"Pfft! That's like calling an arm across someone's shoulders the same as a hand down their pants."** Okay. They needed a subject change, and fast. Kurt's need for a haircut that didn't remind her of what Kitty's was when it was down seemed as good an idea as anything.

**"A mullet?" he demanded. "No way! The bangs totally negate any mulletness!"**

She shook her head sadly. "Your bangs are shorter than the rest. That makes it more like a mullet."

She reached for the nearest can of soda, adding that Kitty would probably cut his hair for next to nothing. Of course, given how well Kitty did other practical things, like cooking and driving... might be worth the extra cash.

**"Cheap? Cheap is insulting a guy's hair and then stealing his drink."** She rolled her eyes and returned his tongue-sticking-outing, taking a pointedly long sip of the root beer. Really, Kurt was easy. Not _easy_, although there seemed to be evidence to support that as well... wait, right. They'd moved on. But if there was anyone in the mansion whose hair you could make fun of, Kurt was it. Mostly just because he had so damn much of it. Everywhere. **"It's not that bad. Is it?"**

She finished off the root beer and handed the empty can back to him. "It's pretty bad. Could be worse, though. You _could_ have a bowl cut. But it's still pretty bad."

Leaning away from him, she squinted her eyes and nodded a few times. "Yeah. It's bad."

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
Rogue rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue right back out at him and he almost giggled at the image of Rogue, badass Gothgrrl, with her tongue sticking out past purple-black lipstick. Still, there were more important subjects at hand, like the assault on his hair, and he looked plaintively between Rogue and Mariko as he asked, "It's not that bad. Is it?" 

**"It's pretty bad**," Rogue shot back, after finishing off is drink and handing him back the empty can and he rolled his eyes both at the comment and the drink theft. **"Could be worse, though. You could have a bowl cut. But it's still pretty bad."**

She was leaning back to examine him further, complete with squinting eyes and considering nods, and he screwed his face up at her in a comical grimace as he waited for her final judgment. No point interrupting, as he was obviously going to get it in anyway whether he wanted it or not.

**"Yeah. It's bad."**

He snorted in indignation and turned his attention back to Mariko, hoping for some support - even if it was unlikely as, in his experience, girls seemed to stick together on these things. "It's not that bad, is it?" he asked, mock-plaintively as he pushed his bangs back from his eyes with one thick-fingered hand before cocking his head and eyeing her warily.

"Or should I not be asking that, given the whole 'sticking together to keep guys in line' thing that girls usually seem to have going?" he added, waggling his eyebrows teasingly as he hopped up and snatched another root beer off the table before stepping up to settle comfortably on the wall by the TV. Might be best to get away from them if they were going to potentially gang up on him, after all.

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Pfft! That's like calling an arm across someone's shoulders the same as a hand down their pants."**

Mariko shook her head and protested "Nuh-uh." It was a lot more like calling a tail down someone's pants the same as a hand down their pants. But she couldn't be bothered to say any of that. If Kurt wasn't going to listen, then he was just going to have to learn the hard way and she was looking forward to being there, watching and laughing. She shot Kurt a very broad, very genuine grin.

**"It's not that bad, is it?"**

Mariko opened her mouth to answer, but quickly fell silent as Kurt started talking again.

**"Or should I not be asking that, given the whole 'sticking together to keep guys in line' thing that girls usually seem to have going?"**

With a sigh, Mariko shook her head slowly. "Kurt, Kurt, Kurt," she said slowly, feigning despair. "We don't disagree with you just because you're a guy. We disagree with you because you're wrong. Because you're a guy."

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"It's not that bad, is it?"**

She frowned, leaning around Kurt to look at Mariko. "Sure, ask her. My opinion isn't enough, is it?"

Although she tried to sound offended, it was hard not to smile, especially as he amended his question, **"Or should I not be asking that, given the whole 'sticking together to keep guys in line' thing that girls usually seem to have going?"**

Damn, seemed Kurt had been spying on the secret meeting of the womenfolk. As he grabbed a root beer and hopped up onto the wall like the little blue monkey that he was, she grabbed his shirt and folded it neatly on her lap.

**"Kurt, Kurt, Kurt," she said slowly, feigning despair. "We don't disagree with you just because you're a guy. We disagree with you because you're wrong. Because you're a guy."**

Nodding in agreement, Rogue picked some of the fur off of his shirt. Was he shedding? That was a little odd. Looking up at him, she tilted her head to the side and frowned. "You remind me of one of those little suction cup dolls that people put on the back windshield of their cars. One of those, with particularly bad hair."

Setting the shirt on the couch, she stood up and headed toward the armoire at the other end of the room. Doubling back to grab the shirt (because no way was she going to give it back to him now without a fight), she gestured toward one of the drawers. "I bet there's a pair of scissors in here. Sit down, I'll cut it for you right now."

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"Sure, ask her. My opinion isn't enough, is it?" **Rogue asked with a frown, but he didn't dignify that with an answer, because of course it wasn't. She'd made a mission out of harassing, abusing and generally keeping him - and every other guy in the house - in line. Her opinion was automatically suspect on an issue like hair, no matter how much he loved her...though he did reconsider the wisdom of asking Mariko for an opinion on the subject, given the female propensity for sticking together to keep guys in their place. 

**With a sigh, Mariko shook her head slowly** and Kurt cocked his head, lips twitching into a slight, not quite smile in anticipation of finding out just where on the scale of obligatory male oppression the newbie was going to fall. **"Kurt, Kurt, Kurt," she said slowly, feigning despair. "We don't disagree with you just because you're a guy. We disagree with you because you're wrong. Because you're a guy."**

Yup, shoulda known. Just another cog in the great female conspiracy. Shame, that. She seemed pretty cool otherwise, but a girl was a girl was a girl, X-gene or no.

"Pfft! Double-whammied," he replied, shaking his own head sadly in imitation of Mariko's previous action. "Cursed by an X-gene and a Y-chromosome. Sometimes it makes me wonder why I bother to get out of bed in the morning. Oh, no. Wait. I remember now. It's because the dude with the bad attitude and the shiny claws'd come julienne my mattress if I didn't show up for training on time."

**"You remind me of one of those little suction cup dolls that people put on the back windshield of their cars,** Rogue suddenly announced out of the blue, and he shot her an amused look that he couldn't quite manage to make disgruntled. **"One of those, with particularly bad hair."**

"Random much?" he asked, before emphatically adding, "and I do _not_ have particularly bad hair!" as she rose from the couch and started towards the armoire...before doubling back and collecting his shirt off the couch?? Verfluckt, he was never going to get that back now...

He cocked his head, tail twitching in slightly agitated curiosity as she gestured towards one of the drawers in the big armoire. **"I bet there's a pair of scissors in here. Sit down, I'll cut it for you right now."**

He blinked owlishly at her for a moment, processing the suggestion before scuttling quickly up the wall to stop with his feet still pressed to the wall above the TV and his back resting comfortably against the ceiling, a vantage point from which he could look down on her in complete and unperturbed safety.

"Um, that's okay," he countered. "I think maybe I should give a bit more thought to just what to do with it first, don't you? No reason to be too hasty, after all. It's been like this for ages, another day or two isn't going to make much difference." He nodded his head emphatically at that, before shifting his attention back to Mariko with a bright smile. "Right fraulein? Not like the hair's going anywhere, after all..."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Sure, ask her. My opinion isn't enough, is it?"**

Mariko grinned in amusement, before offering Rogue a look of mock sympathy. "Don't worry about it. He'll get over it, it's just while I'm exciting and new."

**"Cursed by an X-gene and a Y-chromosome. Sometimes it makes me wonder why I bother to get out of bed in the morning. Oh, no. Wait. I remember now. It's because the dude with the bad attitude and the shiny claws'd come julienne my mattress if I didn't show up for training on time."**

Wow. Way to make a girl feel glad to be there. Staring at Kurt through narrowed eyes, Mariko wagged a finger at him disapprovingly. "You're not making me happy and welcome," she chided, "I take it we're talking about the gym teacher?" she added as an afterthought.

**"Right fraulein? Not like the hair's going anywhere, after all..."**

"Okay, he's not entirely wrong," Mariko told Rogue, before giving Kurt a supportive grin. "At least this time, anyway. Even a stopped clock and all that, you know?" She frowned, thoughtfully. "Besides, you've got to admit, holding someone down and going at them with scissors has a definite danger potential. I imagine he's a squirmer."

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Don't worry about it. He'll get over it, it's just while I'm exciting and new."** She nodded. That was true. Soon, Mariko would just be another of the many freaks living there, and she'd fade away until Bobby recruited her to his little army of Asian troublemakers. 

**"Cursed by an X-gene and a Y-chromosome. Sometimes it makes me wonder why I bother to get out of bed in the morning. Oh, no. Wait. I remember now. It's because the dude with the bad attitude and the shiny claws'd come julienne my mattress if I didn't show up for training on time."** She laughed. Yeah, that was as good a reason as any. Death by Logan wasn't that appealing, after all.

**"You're not making me happy and welcome,"** Mariko piped up, **"I take it we're talking about the gym teacher?"** As her eyebrow shot up, she turned to the girl. Gym teacher? Logan?

"Little hairy midget man?" He was sort of a gym teacher, maybe.

**"I think maybe I should give a bit more thought to just what to do with it first, don't you? No reason to be too hasty, after all. It's been like this for ages, another day or two isn't going to make much difference."** She watched as Kurt monkeyed his way up to the ceiling, well out of reach. Sighing, she closed the drawer that she'd been rummaging through and headed back to the couch.

Mariko being on his side wasn't helpful either. **"Besides, you've got to admit, holding someone down and going at them with scissors has a definite danger potential. I imagine he's a squirmer."**

She snorted. Yeah, he was probably a squirmer. Her mind immediately went back to the gutter on that comment, and she leaned against the back of the couch, trying not to look like she was thinking about what possible situations might cause Kurt to squirm. Clearing her throat, she looked up at him. "It's safe, you can come down. Or else I'll have to scale the wall and go all ninja on your ass."

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"You're not making me happy and welcome,"** Mariko informed him with a glare. **"I take it we're talking about the gym teacher?"**

Trying, not too successfully, to stifle a laugh Kurt shot a look at Rogue, whose eyebrow was quirked up into her hairline in about as close to outright laughter as she ever got. He gave up even trying not to laugh at her next words.

**"Little hairy midget man?"**

"Little hairy midget man with nasty-ass claws and an attitude to match," Kurt elaborated, still laughing. "Don't worry about him, though," he added with a broad grin, "he hasn't actually ventilated anyone yet, he just likes to threaten to."

He was going to say more, add in something at least moderately reassuring - because Logan was really wasn't _that_ bad, he just seemed to want them to think he was. Especially the newer kids, for whatever reason. Unfortunately, right about then Rogue decided to threaten him with scissors and it was time to get well out of range and look for some moral support.

**"Okay, he's not entirely wrong,"** Mariko answered in response to his plea, and he smiled back at her in not entirely feigned relief. **"At least this time, anyway. Even a stopped clock and all that, you know?"** And he could live with that, because obviously she had to get in the grrrlpower support and all, but so long as she was on the side of Rogue _not_ getting near his head with scissors - because he _liked_ his ears, thanks - then he was good with it. This time.

**"Besides, you've got to admit, holding someone down and going at them with scissors has a definite danger potential. I imagine he's a squirmer."**

"Yup, definitely a squirmer," he agreed, looking down at Rogue from the safety of his spot on the ceiling with a cocky grin that got even broader as she snorted in what he chose to interpret as resignation. "I squirm and wriggle all over the place, and then there's the tail," he added, waving it admonishingly at her. "There'd be blood. It'd be messy. We don't want to go there."

**"It's safe, you can come down. Or else I'll have to scale the wall and go all ninja on your ass."**

He eyed her suspiciously for a moment, debating the wisdom of coming back within reach - and weighing it against the entertaining, though unlikely, prospect of her actually trying to get up the wall after him. She hadn't actually gotten out any scissors, so he should be safe enough, and the hair that was under debate was hanging annoyingly in his eyes in this position...

"Fine," and he let go of the ceiling with hands and feet, somersaulting easily as he fell and landing in a crouch next to the coffee table. "Don't know if my ass could survive you going ninja on it, after all," he added as he straightened up - most of the way - and hitched his cargoes a bit higher over his hipbones. She really should give him his verdammt shirt back, but he knew better than to ask and it _was_ his own fault for abandoning in within reach. Maybe if he was sneaky...

"So," he pulled a tootsie pop out of his pocket and began unwrapping it as he turned his attention back to Mariko, "I take it you haven't had the complete rundown on training and stuff if you figure Logan's a 'gym teacher', ja?" He popped the cherry sucker into his mouth and, almost as an afterthought, fished out a couple more - chocolate and cherry - and, smiling around the stick protruding from his mouth, offered them to the girls.

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Little hairy midget man?"**

Nodding in agreement, Mariko pointed a figure at Rogue. "Sounds like the guy," she replied.

**"It's safe, you can come down. Or else I'll have to scale the wall and go all ninja on your ass."**

"You know," Mariko mused thoughtfully, "I actually have a cousin who likes to be called Samurai. He's kind of a dick though." Kenuichi was not an acceptable topic around the home though.

**"I take it you haven't had the complete rundown on training and stuff if you figure Logan's a 'gym teacher', ja?"**

Mariko gave a quick shrug of her shoulders. She probably should have taken the time to read all the stuff Xavier had given her. Still, she'd been forced to leave home just because of who she was. Should and are weren't exactly best friends anymore. Plucking the closest sucker from Kurt's hands with a grateful smile, she shrugged her shoulders, "Professor gave me a bunch of stuff to read. I haven't yet."

Thoughtfully, she frowned as she unwrapped her sucker. "He told me he was a gym teacher," she said, before popping the candy into her mouth, rolling it around as she gazed up at the ceiling, "there was a sort of, kind of, for now type thing involved though"


	12. Chapter 12

Oops, I lied. There was only the one more chapter left, and this is it... Sorry.

And thanks again, **Evilerk**, good to hear from someone that they're enjoying this. Not sure when we'll post anything else on ffn at this point, as we're both a bit snowed under with assorted stuff, but the next bit of the story, such as it is, is going up at because it's too raunchy for here. And yeah, Logan/Rogue definitely isn't something that's a possibility at Evolution Unbound, seeing as Logan thinks of her as one of 'his' kids and all. Anyway, hope you enjoy this last bit and thanks for the feedback. ;)

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Yup, definitely a squirmer. I squirm and wriggle all over the place, and then there's the tail."** Yes. Then there was the tail, wasn't there? Not going to think about it. **"There'd be blood. It'd be messy. We don't want to go there." **He was right. It would be messy, and they didn't want to go there. Looking up at him, she informed him that it was safe to come down. Sort of.

**"You know, I actually have a cousin who likes to be called Samurai. He's kind of a dick though."** Raising an eyebrow, she frowned. That was odd, to say the least. She had the sudden mental image of a somewhat obese Japanese teenager with pimples sitting at his computer, trying to pick up women over the internet. "Bet he doesn't get out much."

**"Don't know if my ass could survive you going ninja on it, after all."** She shook her head. It definitely couldn't. As he fixed his pants and pulled a lollipop out of God only knew where, she sat down in one of the chairs, re-folding his shirt on her lap. It was a nice shirt, and she planned on keeping it for as long as she could.

Nodding toward the remaining piece of candy, she held out her hands to catch it. Going over to retrieve it would require standing up, and she was comfortable. **"He told me he was a gym teacher. There was a sort of, kind of, for now type thing involved though"**

Leaning forward a bit, she bowed her head, trying to think of the best way to phrase what exactly Logan was. "He's more of a drill sergeant. A really old drill sergeant with a great ass and a fondness for beer, cigars and motorcycles."

Glancing thoughtfully toward the window, she briefly considered adding that he also had a fondness for men in comas, but someone reminded her that that was a bit insensitive. Fine. Instead, she clarified further, "He runs a lot of the training sessions."

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"Professor gave me a bunch of stuff to read. I haven't yet." **Mariko explained and he laughed quietly at the admission. 

"Neither have I, and I've been here for almost two years," he answered with a grin and a wink as he hopped up to perch on the arm of the couch across from her. "I always kind of figured that if it was important enough they'd get around to telling me eventually. Seems to have worked fine so far." He glanced over at Rogue out of the corner of his eye, his shirt folded neatly in her lap. Yup, just lull her into a false sense of security and he could snatch it back...soon...

**"He told me he was a gym teacher," Mariko said, before popping the candy into her mouth, rolling it around as she gazed up at the ceiling, "there was a sort of, kind of, for now type thing involved though."** Kurt switched his attention back from his shirt, lips twitching in amusement as he tried to envision Logan teaching freshman P.E. at BHS.

**"He's more of a drill sergeant. A really old drill sergeant with a great ass and a fondness for beer, cigars and motorcycles." **Rogue explained and Kurt snorted in laughter at the description, though he had to admit...

"Yeah, that's pretty fair. Except let's be clear that he has a fondness for cheapass Canadian beer," he added and grinned broadly as Rogue added what appeared to be her final comment on the man.

**"He runs a lot of the training sessions."**

"Martial arts, danger room drills, security systems, search and rescue, longass runs through the woods to see who'll drop first...that kind of stuff," Kurt elaborated.

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Neither have I, and I've been here for almost two years, I always kind of figured that if it was important enough they'd get around to telling me eventually. Seems to have worked fine so far."**

Mariko grinned and gave a nod of her head. "File it away. Forget about it. Got it."

**"Bet he doesn't get out much."**

Mariko shrugged her shoulders as she let her hands rest in her lap. She'd said more than enough already. Airing family business in public was hardly appropriate behaviour. Even if they had told her stuff about their mother. With a slightly gloomy sigh, she shifted, propping one elbow against her knee and cupping her chin in the palm of her hand.

**"He's more of a drill sergeant. A really old drill sergeant with a great ass and a fondness for beer, cigars and motorcycles."**

Mariko nodded, eyes wide. She really couldn't say that she'd been overly aware of his ass. He was male and frankly, more than a little outside her age range.

**"He runs a lot of the training sessions."**

**"Martial arts, danger room drills, security systems, search and rescue, longass runs through the woods to see who'll drop first...that kind of stuff,"**

"Naa," Mariko wailed plaintively as she fell back against the armrest, melodramatically. "Suddenly, my motel room doesn't look so bad. Sure, it was loud and smelly and I was living on a diet of sugar and additives, but there was no training involved."

Naa that's great

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Martial arts, danger room drills, security systems, search and rescue, longass runs through the woods to see who'll drop first...that kind of stuff,"** Kurt added. She nodded in agreement. Yeah, that was a much more in-depth description. 

**"Naa, Suddenly, my motel room doesn't look so bad. Sure, it was loud and smelly and I was living on a diet of sugar and additives, but there was no training involved."** She was pretty sure that the first part there was Japanese. She probably should have known a little bit of the language, from absorbing Logan... she vaguely remembered being able to speak Japanese. Or was it Chinese? Something-nese. Didn't really matter, though, since the rest of the sentence was plain English. Would've been nice to have kept some of that foreign language knowledge. Would be nice to keep something more than just annoying as hell voices. Would have been nicest of all to not keep anything.

Blinking herself out of her little pity party, she looked over at Mariko, tilting her head slightly. "Well, here you get all of the above. It's loud, it's smelly, there's more sugar than you can shake a stick at, _and_ there's training." She nudged the box of Ho-Hos with her foot, continuing, "You get used to it, though. Real fast. Least I did."

She glanced over at Kurt, nodding. "Right, Fuzzy?"

Grinning as she remembered that she had his shirt, she held it up a bit. Ha, he was definitely never getting it back. Even if she had to sleep with it on. Well, that might be creepy. But still, she'd do it. It was her shirt, now.

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
Kurt giggled as Mariko pulled a Sarah Bernhardt against the armrest of the couch. **"Naa. Suddenly, my motel room doesn't look so bad. Sure, it was loud and smelly and I was living on a diet of sugar and additives, but there was no training involved."**

"Impressive, usually Logan has to drive people away in person," Kurt commented, as his tail snaked out to retrieve one of the remaining - kinda lukewarm - rootbeers. "Think his mutant power of driving people away might be moving to the next level...or that might just be the body odor," he concluded thoughtfully as his tail passed him the can and he popped it open.

**"Well, here you get all of the above,** Rogue chimed in. **It's loud, it's smelly, there's more sugar than you can shake a stick at, and there's training." She nudged the box of Ho-Hos with her foot, continuing, "You get used to it, though. Real fast. Least I did."**

**She glanced over at Kurt, nodding. "Right, Fuzzy?" **

"Yeah, she was extra special good at the taking orders part," he agreed with a sardonic wink. "Oh, and the getting up at the buttcrack of dawn," he added, grinning teasingly over at her. "She adapted to that _right_...away." And she was holding his shirt hostage. Definitely. He studiously ignored the reminder as he turned his attention back to Mariko. He was going to get that verdammt shirt back...eventually...through sneakery, because a frontal assault was obviously suicidal.

"It's not that bad, though. Really," he reassured Mariko, popping his sucker out of his mouth so he could take a drink of his soda. Wouldn't do to scare her away on the first day...or at all, really. She seemed pretty cool. And it wasn't really...by comparison to the kind of schedule he'd had to keep in the circus, anyway. After talking to some of the other kids who'd had more...traditional...upbringings he'd come to the conclusion that it was pretty brutal. But no reason to tell her that. Nope. None at all.

"What else would you really want to do with all that empty time before breakfast anyway?" he asked with a grin.

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Well, here you get all of the above. It's loud, it's smelly, there's more sugar than you can shake a stick at, and there's training. You get used to it, though. Real fast. Least I did. Right, Fuzzy?"**

Mariko sighed mournfully. She didn't want to get used to it. Or she didn't want to have to get used to it. She wanted a life free of training and early mornings. Maybe somewhere that she didn't have to speak English.

**"What else would you really want to do with all that empty time before breakfast anyway?"**

"I'm definitely thinking sleep," Mariko decided with a nod. More sleep was definitely a good thing. "Or maybe-" thoughtfully, she tapped one finger against her chin, "maybe- and I haven't exactly worked out the details on this just yet, but I'm thinking some kind of pre-breakfast." It was meant as a joke, but it was not an entirely meritless idea.

* * *

**Rogue**  
—  
**"Yeah, she was extra special good at the taking orders part," he agreed with a sardonic wink. "Oh, and the getting up at the buttcrack of dawn," he added, grinning teasingly over at her. "She adapted to that right...away."** She rolled her eyes. Really, he was definitely just trying to work "buttcrack" into a sentence about her. There was no other possible reason for that. 

**"What else would you really want to do with all that empty time before breakfast anyway?"**

Rogue didn't even have to think before responding, "Sleep."

Mariko, it seemed, agreed. **"I'm definitely thinking sleep, Or maybe- maybe- and I haven't exactly worked out the details on this just yet, but I'm thinking some kind of pre-breakfast."** Rogue stood up, deciding that if they were going to talk about food, it was probably best to make her exit. "Don't give him any ideas."

Moving around the furniture, she nodded at both of them, slinging the shirt casually over her shoulder. "It was nice meeting you, Mariko. Think I'll go to my room now." Arching an eyebrow at Kurt, she held the shirt up. "And you'll have to think of some way to get this back. After all, tomorrow is another day." _Fuck._ Why had she said that? It was a clean exit, and then she had to go and make mental connections to things in her mind and quote movies that she was pretending she didn't practically know by heart. Frowning, she sighed and turned to exit.

"Yeah, I'm leaving now. Bye."

Heading down the hallway, she shouted back as an afterthought, "Thanks for taking care of my trash, Kurt." She had t-shirts to hide, she couldn't deal with throwing away Ho-Ho wrappers.

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"I'm definitely thinking sleep, Or maybe- maybe- and I haven't exactly worked out the details on this just yet, but I'm thinking some kind of pre-breakfast."** Kurt watched, head cocked slightly, as she tapped her finger on her chin as she thought. For whatever reason - and with a couple of very notable exceptions - the X-gene did seem to draw from the gorgeous end of the gene pool. 

**"Don't give him any ideas."**

"I don't need any ideas where food's concerned," Kurt answered, looking up to find that Rogue had gotten up and, his shirt slung casually over her shoulder, was making her way towards the door. Verfluckt, she got back to her room with it and the odds of retrieving it were gonna go right down the toilet. "Pre-breakfast is a pre-training requirement, after all," he finished, watching his shirt recede mournfully. He could just ask for it back, of course...she _might_ even give it to him. But that would be conceding defeat.

**"It was nice meeting you, Mariko. Think I'll go to my room now." Arching an eyebrow at Kurt, she held the shirt up. "And you'll have to think of some way to get this back. After all, tomorrow is another day."**

Okay, so much for just asking for it back, but on the plus side, she'd just quoted Scarlett again, which was _well_ worth the sacrifice of a t-shirt. Especially since he really could just 'port over, snatch it and 'port away again if he really wanted to...but that ruined all the fun of actually trying to get it back by sneaky means.

"Just watch your back, Scarlett," he answered, waving cheerily at her. "Thought it's a small sacrifice if it makes you that happy to see me shirtless," he added.

**"Yeah, I'm leaving now. Bye."**

"Yup, what can I say?" he asked, turning a cocky grin back on Mariko. "Chicks dig the fuzzy dude," and he winked, just as Rogue's voice drifted back down the hallway to them.

**"Thanks for taking care of my trash, Kurt."**

"Or at least they dig the Fuzzy Dude Janitorial Service," he added with a mock-mournful sigh as he sucked on his Tootsie Pop and got up to survey the detritus of the afternoon. Scattered popcorn, HoHo wrappers, abandoned soda cans. Yup, she'd stuck it to him good...like usual. Oh well, trash wasn't picking up itself...

"Y'know, I was serious earlier," he told Mariko around his sucker as he grabbed the popcorn bowl and started to fill it with trash. "If you want the grand tour of beautiful downtown Bayville tomorrow, or just a ride to the mall so you can snag a bathing suit, it's no problem."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"Pre-breakfast is a pre-training requirement, after all,"**

Pre-training? For a moment, Mariko's eyes widened as she digested the possibility that pre-training was to training as pre-breakfast was to breakfast. It didn't take long for her to decide that was probably wrong though.

**"It was nice meeting you, Mariko. Think I'll go to my room now. And you'll have to think of some way to get this back. After all, tomorrow is another day."**

"You too," Mariko replied with a genuine smile.

**"Or at least they dig the Fuzzy Dude Janitorial Service,"**

"Let me help with that?" Mariko suggested as she sat up, before sliding to the floor. For several moments, she simply helped in silence, picking up assorted trash and starting a pile on the table, so that Kurt could easily scoop it into his bowl. When he spoke again, she sat back up on her haunches to listen.

**"Y'know, I was serious earlier. If you want the grand tour of beautiful downtown Bayville tomorrow, or just a ride to the mall so you can snag a bathing suit, it's no problem."**

Hands resting on her knees, Mariko smiled brightly at Kurt. "I think that would be nice," she decided, "as long as you can put your cheat-y perviness aside," she added with a grin, "besides, I'm pretty sure my schedule's free." A thoughtful frown clouded her expression, "that seemed kind of abrupt," she observed, pointing in the direction Rogue had gone.

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
He smiled his gratitude as Mariko pitched in with the clean-up. It wasn't really that bad...other than the spilled popcorn. Should only take a couple of minutes, hopefully 

He watched for Mariko's reaction out of the corner of his eye when he asked about showing her around tomorrow, and grinned cheerily when it came with a smile.

**"I think that would be nice," she decided, "as long as you can put your cheat-y perviness aside," she added with a grin, "besides, I'm pretty sure my schedule's free." **

"Cheat-y??" he asked with an indignant huff. "What do you mean cheat-y? Now the perviness..." he waggled his eyebrows teasingly at her as his tail swept up a wrapper and dropped it in the popcorn bowl. "That I'll own, but I'm gonna have to protest any accusations of cheating. Definitely..." He trailed off, cocking his head in curiosity as she frowned thoughtfully.

**"That seemed kind of abrupt," she observed, pointing in the direction Rogue had gone**.

He shrugged dismissively, his grin returning full force. "That meine Freundin, is Rogue for you. Abrupt is just the tip of the iceberg," he assured her cheerily. "But I'm sure part of it was just getting my verdammt shirt out of here before I managed to sneak up on her and snag it back," he added with a wink.

"So, where will it be?" he asked, reverting to the former topic of conversation as he plucked the last few pluckable kernels of popcorn from the oriental rug. What was left was gonna require vacuuming and, Gott, he despised vacuums. "The mall, downtown, the boardwalk? I'll drag you wherever you wanna go."

* * *

**Mariko**  
—  
**"That I'll own, but I'm gonna have to protest any accusations of cheating. Definitely..."**

Mariko frowned, but said nothing. She was fairly sure that the exact phrase Rogue had used was pervy cheater. Still, that was far from her main concern. Rogue's departure had been kind of sudden. She just hoped that it was not something that she had said. Truth be told though, she was fairly sure it wasn't, but that didn't prevent a concerned frown clouding her features.

**"That meine Freundin, is Rogue for you. Abrupt is just the tip of the iceberg,"**

Freundin? Mariko's eyebrows flickered upward ever so slightly, but she remained silent. It didn't sound like it was an insult, so she could probably live with the trauma of not knowing.

**"But I'm sure part of it was just getting my verdammt shirt out of here before I managed to sneak up on her and snag it back,"**

"I'm sure it was," Mariko agreed with a mockingly puzzled smile, "does that kind of thing really happen all that often around here?"

**"So, where will it be? The mall, downtown, the boardwalk? I'll drag you wherever you wanna go."**

Mariko shrugged her shoulders. She didn't know what to see, because she wanted to see it all. "Dragging aside, because I think we can do without that, I guess mall would be nice, for the actually buying stuff side of things. Anywhere else is just an added extra."

* * *

**Kurt**  
—  
**"I'm sure it was," Mariko agreed with a mockingly puzzled smile, "does that kind of thing really happen all that often around here?"**

"If by that kind of thing you mean theft, mayhem, pranking and general insanity then I'd have to say..." he paused, looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling for a moment. "I hope you're not too attached to any of your personal possessions, oh, or your dignity. Because none of that tends to be safe for long around here," he informed her with a cheery grin.

"So, where will it be? The mall, downtown, the boardwalk? I'll drag you wherever you wanna go," he continued as the gathered up the last of the clutter between them.

**"Dragging aside, because I think we can do without that, I guess mall would be nice, for the actually buying stuff side of things. Anywhere else is just an added extra."**

"Check, no dragging. And a trip to the mall to buy 'stuff' it is, maybe with a bit of a tour of lovely Bayville if we have time," he agreed with a particularly cheerful grin. The mall worked for him. She seemed pretty cool, and far be it from him to pass up a chance to hang out with a cute girl who was, most likely, going to be buying a bathing suit...and maybe, just maybe, if he was lucky and God was smiling down on him tomorrow, wanting an opinion as to which one looked best on her. Yup, mall sounded good to him...and maybe he should say an extra few decades of the rosary tonight, just to stack things in his favor.

"Dankeschoen for the help cleaning up," he added, dropping the last couple items into the empty popcorn bowl and realizing he didn't really have any excuse to linger any longer now that the mess was taken care of. "And I look forward to the pleasure of your company tomorrow at the beautiful and exotic Bayville Mall."

Holding the bowl out of the way he offered her an elaborate bow before smiling cheerily up at her from beneath his bangs...maybe Rogue was right and he should get someone to cut his hair...before disappearing in a burst of lavender smoke.


End file.
